If you feel the need to warm up with a strong, invigorating drink with a pleasantly intense flavour, Irish Coffee is exactly what you need. This celebrated Irish ‘cocktail’, which combines the aroma of coffee with the strong flavour of whiskey, has the advantage of being very easy to prepare and can be enriched with several additional ingredients that enhance its sweetness.
Precisely because we know a thing or two about coffee, we wanted to take a closer look at this ‘all-Irish’ way of drinking it, trying our hand at its preparation. Well, given the satisfying and tasty outcome, we wanted to share it with you, revealing in detail the recipe for Irish Coffee.
History and origins of Irish Coffee
The origins of Irish Coffee are linked to a day in October 1943, characterised by particularly bad weather. That was the time when the first international flights between Europe and the United States were taking place: to be precise, they were seaplanes taking off from the Irish village of Foyes.
On the day that started the ‘legend’ of Irish Coffee, one of these flights was to take place but, due to bad weather conditions, the aircraft was returned to base.
The passengers then took a seat in the terminal restaurant, looking for something warm to refresh themselves with, and the chef, one Joe Sheridan, offered them a special blend of coffee and Irish whiskey, which was an immediate success. When someone asked him if it was Brazilian coffee, Sheridan angrily replied that it was ‘Irish Coffee’, and it was then that the myth of this drink was born.
The news of its existence travelled around the world, arriving in a short time in the United States, more precisely in San Francisco, where the Americans made numerous attempts until they succeeded in faithfully reproducing it. Would you like to follow their example? Read on to find out how!
Irish Coffee recipe
To prepare a delicious Irish Coffee, you first need the following ingredients:
- 40 – 45 ml espresso coffee;
- 40 ml Irish whisky;
- 5 gr brown sugar;
- 40 ml liquid fresh cream;
- low-fat cocoa powder;
- 2 coffee beans.
Of all those we have listed, the two most important ingredients are obviously Irish whiskey and espresso, which is why you should make sure that they are both of high quality.
As for the second ingredient, it can certainly help you to prepare it with a good tool: a coffee machine that allows you to obtain a blend with an intense and aromatic taste, perfect to be used as a base for your Irish Coffee. In this regard, we at Pontevecchio have specialised in lever machines, whose peculiarity is precisely that they are able to retain all the nutritional principles of the coffee, enriching it with a strong and intense flavour.
After all, it is no secret that if you want to drink good coffee, you should do it with the right machine. So we invite you to browse our catalogue and discover the right coffee machine for you: the one that will help you get the first and most important ingredient in your Irish Coffee recipe.
Preparation
The first thing you need to do is to prepare two espressos in cappuccino cups. Once this is done, pour the fresh cream into a bowl and whip it for about 3 minutes with the help of an electric whisk, until you see it thicken slightly.
Take a glass and pour hot water into it, after boiling it in a saucepan. As soon as the glass starts to boil, remove the water and replace it with sugar and whisky, stirring well with a teaspoon.
Then add your espresso, filling the glass about 4/5 full, while continuing to stir. Complete the job with the whipped cream, which you will first pour over the back of the teaspoon, and then slowly drip it into the glass, taking care not to let it be absorbed by the liquid below.
Once this last step has been completed, your Irish Coffee will finally be ready to serve and, if you like, you can garnish it with a sprinkle of bitter cocoa and a few coffee beans.
Final Recommendations
The only delicate step in the recipe is the addition of the whipped cream. This is why, while we advise you to give it a fluid consistency (neither too thick nor too thin), we also recommend a tulip-shaped glass to help keep the cream on the surface.
Besides this, remember that the great thing about Irish Coffee is that you can decorate it however you like. We’ve suggested bitter cocoa and coffee beans but, if you prefer, you can also use chocolate chips, hazelnut chips and even nutmeg.
Feel free to create the most delicious combinations you can think of, safe in the knowledge that if the basic ingredients are of the highest quality (such as the aforementioned espresso prepared with a lever machine), you can only get an Irish Coffee that lives up to its reputation!