Name: Irish Coffee by Tim Herlihy
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 1.5 oz Lost Irish Irish whiskey; .5 oz demerara syrup; 3.5 oz dark roast coffee; Thumb of prepared Heavy Cream (36% fat content)

It seems obvious now: The best winter drink should always involve hot coffee and whisky in some form.

But Irish Coffee is a relatively young drink. A quick recap: This sterling winter tipple got its start at the Foynes Airport in the midwest of Ireland in 1942, where a seaplane on its way from New York to Rome ran into engine trouble and landed. A chef at the airport, Joe Sheridan, whipped up a hot drink of coffee, cream, Irish whiskey and sugar. One passenger, a San Francisco newspaper writer named Stanton Delaplane, became obsessed with this “Gaelic coffee,” and his passion eventually led to the drink’s recreation at the Buena Vista Cafe a decade later.

“The Buena Vista started serving Irish Coffees in 1952 and now makes an average of 2,000 Irish Coffees a day,” explains Tim Herlihy, co-founder of Lost Irish (an Irish whiskey that’s made from casks sourced from six continents and triple distilled using all three whiskey production styles.) and co-author of From Barley to Blarney: A Whiskey Lover’s Guide to Ireland with NYC’s heralded team at the Irish pub The Dead Rabbit. “It’s become an icon for Ireland’s favorite cocktail.”

A Beginner’s Guide to Hacking Your Irish Coffee

It’s a simple four-ingredient cocktail. But you can and should go wild with those ingredients.

(Herlihy, The Dead Rabbit and Buena Vista Cafe are all actually coming together to showcase Irish Coffee and other Irish whiskey/coffee drinks like The Frozen Irish and Irish Whiskey Espresso Martini this Wednesday — National Irish Coffee Day — at a themed pop-up at The Dead Rabbit. You can get tickets here.)

So that’s for New Yorkers. If you’re in San Francisco, you should stop by Buena Vista to try their iconic take on the cocktail. “The Buena Vista isn’t just known for its Irish Coffee, it’s known for its bar theatre and showmanship,” says Herlihy (who, speaking of showmanship, actually holds a world record for creating the largest Irish Coffee ever at 234 gallons). “The first time I went to the Buena Vista, the bartender Larry was making a dozen Irish Coffees at a time at a rapid pace. Larry, was as much a talented bartender as he was a talented magician and would entertain guests with a series of magic tricks in between serving Irish Coffees. A belter of an Irish Coffee and must-visit iconic bar.”

Below, a few recipes for Irish Coffee — one from Herlihy, one that I tried and loved in Ireland in December at the Teeling distillery, a unique American/Irish take on the beverage from Minnesota’s Keeper’s Heart and a non-alcoholic version from Kate Wise at Hotel Vermont. Also if you want to hack the recipe, it’s quite easy to modify.

Irish Coffee by The Lost Irish — Irish Coffee by Tim Herlihy, co-founder of Lost Irish

Joanna Lin

Irish Coffee by Tim Herlihy

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 10 mins

Servings: 1

Ingredients

1.5 oz Lost Irish Irish whiskey
.5 oz demerara syrup
3.5 oz dark roast coffee
Thumb of prepared Heavy Cream (36% fat content)