THE IRISH COFFEE
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, try an Irish coffee (at Uisce, if you’re in Bellingham)! This warm, comforting drink pays homage to its namesake through its rich flavor and Irish whiskey. Irish coffee has a long history; variations of coffee and spirit cocktails have been around more than 100 years, with some early versions coming from Austria, Germany, and Denmark. The Irish coffee we know today is usually traced back to Joe Sheridan, head chef at a coffee shop at Ireland’s Foynes Airbase. It’s said he crafted the drink on a stormy night in 1943, to warm up passengers of a flight that was forced to turn back due to bad weather.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces hot freshly brewed coffee
- 1 tsp maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1 ½ ounces Irish whiskey
- Partially whipped cream
Instructions
- Pour hot water into a glass to heat it up and start brewing the coffee.
- Pour out the hot water and pour in 6 ounces of fresh coffee.
- Then mix in maple syrup/brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Add Irish whiskey and stir.
- Partially whip the cream to where It’s just starting to hold its shape but still liquid. To float cream on top, place the back of a spoon on the surface of the coffee and slowly pour the whipping cream onto the spoon, letting it drift from there out onto the surface.
