Name: Irish Coffee
Color: Black and white
Nose: Coffee and whiskey
Taste: Coffee and whiskey with sugar and cream
Irish Coffee, or as I like to say, “the original Redbull & Vodka” will keep you up long enough to make an asshole out of yourself and get a ride to the drunk tank in the Paddy Wagon. My early life experiences with Irish Coffee were not good ones. Growing up in Boston they always used cheap whiskey, burnt coffee, whipped cream from a can, green liquor drizzle, and topped it with green sprinkles. It was similar to a Mudslide, a gimmick that tasted like shit and full of sugar.
Irish Coffee is classified as a cocktail and when it was created is unknown, but Cofffe & Booze was on the menu in Viennese Coffeehouses in the 1850’s. The Irish version I assume has been around since they started drinking coffee and most likely started with tea. It did not become popular in America until the 1950’s. The first place that served Irish Coffee can be debated, but any place with pub and large Irish populations would have served it on or off the menu.
What made the cocktail popular and now famous was the Buena Vista in San Francisco. It is a smaller sized tight table restaurant and from what I am told they make a very well balanced cocktail with home made cream. Online they state they make “over 2,000 a day” so even if everyone had 2 drinks that is 1,000 people that visit that restaurant a day. That is a lot.
If you are in NYC I can recommend the Dead Rabbit in NYC for an Irish coffee. It is very tasty and the bartender told me they do an infusion process and make extra effort to to create the perfect cocktail.
Irish Coffee:
- Use a warm glass.
- Add 2 sugar cubes.
- Pour hot coffee to fill ¾ of the glass and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Add whiskey.
- Top with cold cream poured over a spoon.
Dead Rabbit, NYC Irish Coffee & Green Spot
Personally, I do not like booze in my coffee. I don’t drink or order Irish Coffees but that is just me. I am half Scottish and all my whiskey needs is a glass.
If you like it, drink it! – Christopher
If you like it, drink it!
