Irish Coffee Cocktail

Building a Proper Irish Coffee Cocktail

Inspiration

Irish Coffee

Made by Jena Ellenwood

The original Irish Coffee cocktail was created by Joe Sheridan in the mid 1940’s at an airport in Foynes, Ireland, to warm travelers. In 1952, a San Franciscan travel writer sampled the beverage and that was that—he knew it had to come to California! Sheridan relocated and The Buena Vista Cafe has been making proper Irish Coffees ever since. We love ours with J.J. Corry Whiskey and fresh whipped cream!

If you love this cocktail, check out our full cocktail library or our YouTube Craft Cocktail Making playlist for home mixology lessons as you make your drink.

Let’s Get Shakin’

Serves: 1

Special Tools: Cocktail Shaker, Strainer, Barspoon

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

4 oz Fresh Brewed Dark Roast Coffee (We love Mighty Oak Roasters)

1/2 oz Demerara Syrup (2 parts Demerara sugar to 1 part warm water, stir to dissolve)

1.5 oz Irish Whiskey (We love J.J.Corry The Gael)

1.5 oz Chilled Heavy Cream

Steps

Fill a footed mug with hot water and set aside
In a shaker tin (or mason jar) add 1.5 oz cold heavy cream (pro tip: pop the spring off your strainer and put it in the shaker before sealing) and hard shake for 15 seconds, or until the cream has doubled in size
Dump the hot water from the footed mug
In footed mug, combine syrup, coffee, and whiskey and stir gently
Using your spoon to help, layer the whipped cream on top of the Irish Coffee
Sláinte!

Suzanne making a sour face wondering if she'll like this cocktail

But will I like it?

Cocktail flavor profile

Getting to know your palate, what you like, and what you don’t like is a critical part of being a great craft tippler AND key to becoming a great home bartender as well! So before you break out that barware and buy the key ingredients, here’s a little guidance on what to expect from this cocktail so you can start to hone in on exactly what elements of cocktails you enjoy and which you’d prefer to minimize. This helps you order new cocktails you love when you’re out on the town better as well!