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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Irish Coffee


Well, I'd like to try this one again. Didn't go as well as planned, partly because I was also busy preparing a St. Patrick's Day meal for our family. And partly because I didn't thicken the cream before making the drink.

The original Irish coffee was invented by Joseph Sheridan, at Foynes in County Limerick, western Ireland. Foynes was next to the Shannon International Airport. A group of American passengers disembarked from a Pan Am flying boat on a miserable winter evening in the 1940s. Head chef Sheridan added whiskey to the coffee to warm the passengers. After, the passengers asked if they were being served Brazilian coffee, Sheridan told them no, it was Irish coffee.

Grandma Nan enjoying an Irish coffee.

David's Swizzle Stick Ratings:
Irish Coffee - 3 Swizzle Sticks

Irish Coffee - 1/2 cup strong black coffee, 1/4 cup Irish whiskey, 1 tsp. brown sugar, heavy cream thickened. Pour the coffee and Irish whiskey in a heated mug. Add the brown sugar and stir. Using two spoons, turn one upside down over the coffee mug and use the other to ladle the cream. Pour the cream over the upside down spoon so that the cream covers the top of the coffee evenly.

Although I used good cream, I did not whip it slightly to thicken it. My mom also thought it was way too strong - I would probably reduce the whiskey:coffee ratio quite a bit!

I don't like coffee (or whiskey) but tried the drink. I'll pass. But I would like to try it again someday to see if I could get David to move his ratings up just a little!

2 comments:

Scott said...

Irish coffee is one of my favorites, but you must whip the cream, and as you said, the whiskey:coffee ratio is a bit steep. I think only WC Fields would approve of such a ratio.

Also, I prefer Bushmills to Jameson.

Mrs. Jelly Belly said...

I LOVE Irish coffee - but yikes! 1/4 cup of whiskey? I'd probably be passed out before I finished it (I'm a lightweight!). In a pinch (which means I'm too lazy to actually make this myself) I just throw a couple of shots of Bailey's in my coffee and be done with it!!