Irish Coffee

Classic Cocktails · Served hot in a Irish coffee glass

Created by Joe Sheridan at Foynes Port, Ireland in the 1940s. Popularized in America by journalist Stanton Delaplane and the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco.

Ingredients

Method

  1. 1.Preheat an Irish coffee glass with hot water, then discard.
  2. 2.Add demerara sugar and hot coffee to the glass. Stir to dissolve.
  3. 3.Add Irish whiskey and stir briefly.
  4. 4.Lightly whip cream until it just holds its shape — it should pour, not dollop.
  5. 5.Pour cream over the back of a spoon so it floats on top.

Notes

  • The cream must be lightly whipped — just thickened, not stiff. You drink the hot coffee through the cold cream.
  • Demerara sugar adds depth. Do not use refined white sugar.

Batch scaling

Common batch sizes for the Irish Coffee. Want a different number? Open the calculator.

Ingredient×1×2×4×8×16
Irish Whiskey1.5 oz3 oz6 oz12 oz24 oz
Hot Coffee5 oz10 oz20 oz40 oz80 oz
Demerara Sugar1 tsp2 tsp4 tsp8 tsp16 tsp
Lightly Whipped Cream1.5 oz3 oz6 oz12 oz24 oz

Scale to any batch size — instantly

Open the calculator to scale the Irish Coffee by servings, bottle fill, or container volume. Unit conversion built in.

Open BarCheat

More Classic Cocktails