United States — would you like to set this as your default country of delivery?
Trade 
Shops & Events 
Customer Service How to Make the Perfect Irish Coffee: A Step-by-Step Guide
Rich coffee, fruity Irish whiskey and lightly whipped cream is a cocktail that's simple to make if you follow a few easy steps. Here's how to make the perfect Irish Coffee at home
The Whisky Exchange
Hot drinks feature far more prominently in the history of cocktails than they do in bars today. This is perhaps due in part to the lack of central heating in days gone by, and the greater burden on an early-evening livener to fortify you against the cold.
The port wine-based Negus, the Hot Buttered Rum and others exist mostly as curiosities. People still enjoy Hot Toddies and mulled wine or cider, but they’re not often counted among classic cocktails. There is one hot cocktail, however, that has not only remained popular but is having a bit of a moment right now – the one and only Irish Coffee.
How to make an Irish Coffee
Brew some coffee. Espresso will likely be a bit overpowering here, so fresh filter or cafetière coffee is ideal. Feel free to use good decaf beans if the situation calls for it.
Very lightly whip some double cream. You want it to have a bit of air through it but still be pourable.
Pour 50ml of your favourite Irish whiskey into a heat-resistant glass – best to warm the glass first, if you can. Bright, fruity styles of whiskey like Jameson Crested are ideal.
Add 15-20ml of 1:1 brown sugar syrup to taste. You can make your own by combining equal parts demerara sugar and hot water and stirring to dissolve.
Top with your hot coffee and stir to combine.
Carefully pour your cream over the back of a spoon to float it on top of the coffee.
- Grate a little dark chocolate or nutmeg over the top for garnish and serve.
There are a few more steps to prepare this than your average cocktail, but it's just as easy to serve a crowd as it is to make one or two. The Irish Coffee makes a great after-dinner drink or a way to kick off a chilly evening.
You can easily modify the Irish Coffee with a dash of a complementary liqueur or bitters, but the truth is this is one of those drinks that benefits from simplicity. Coffee, like whiskey, gains much of its flavour through fermentation, so there’s a nice synergy between fruity Irish whiskey and freshly brewed coffee. As is so often the case with cocktails, you get out what you put in, so investing in some good-quality beans or grounds will really make this drink shine.
Even if you normally take your coffee unsweetened, don’t be afraid of the amount of sugar this recipe calls for. It’s meant to be an indulgent treat, and the sweetness helps pull the bold flavours of the other ingredients together and ensures your cream will float nicely on top.
The history of the Irish Coffee
Despite what international visitors to Temple Bar or Grafton Street might think, this drink isn’t traditional to Ireland as such. In fact, the practice of dosing coffee with a little whiskey and cream likely gained popularity at Shannon Airport in the 1940s.
Back then, the runway in County Clare was an important stop-off for early transatlantic passengers who would be offered the pick-me-up to fortify them for the long flight ahead. Like many great inventions, the Irish Coffee was cooked up to clip a few extra dollars out of tourists. Over time, the serve was refined and perfected and it became the whipped cream topped creation we enjoy today. The Irish Coffee and its variants then become popular in the cocktail bars of San Francisco, New Orleans and New York.
Today, the proliferation of good old-fashioned Irish hospitality at bars like Manhattan’s Dead Rabbit have helped introduce this classic cocktail to a new generation. Bar Swift also offers what is perhaps the definitive version of the drink for Londoners.
