The inspiration for this post came a few weeks ago when I saw the last five minutes of an episode of Blue Bloods. Tom Selleck's character and his glorious moustache were showing his family how to pour the perfect Irish coffee. I had intended to get this one out for St. Patrick's Day, but as you can see, that did not happen. As it turns out, I didn't get it right until my fourth attempt. It seems that the key to this classic cocktail is to beat the cream and add lots of sugar to the coffee. My version is weaker than the International Bartenders' Association standard, using only one shot of whiskey, which to me is quite sufficient. This makes for a very smooth, tasty drink.
Ingredients
- About 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
- 1 shot Irish whiskey
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- Heavy cream
Instructions
Get the coffee started first. You can make this in any way you like. I prefer to use a one-cup French press for its ease of use. I grind up about 15 grams of beans, add those to the beaker, and pour hot water over them. Brew for 5 minutes.
Traditionally, Irish coffee is served in stemmed glass mugs. Since I don't have actual Irish coffee mugs, I used a wine glass instead. Fill the glass with hot tap water to warm it up. Pour cream into a bowl and whisk to thicken. Don't take it all the way to whipped cream. Transfer the cream to a container that's easy to pour from, such as a beaker or measuring cup. I find that the cream is more likely to float if you do this.
Once the coffee is ready, empty the water from the glass. Add the whiskey and coffee, filling up until there is about a half inch from the top of the coffee to the rim of the glass (more if you like extra cream). Add the brown sugar and stir it into the coffee. From what I've read, this is an important step for the floating of the cream, so do this even if you're a black coffee-guzzling Minnesotan.
The last step is the most important for the presentation of the drink. Lower a small spoon, backside-up, into the glass, with the end barely touching the coffee. Slowly pour the cream over the back of the spoon. If all the steps have been done correctly, the cream will float on top. Do not mix it in. The coffee should remain black below, and not clouded with cream. Serve immediately.
There is deep family tradition with this drink. Your grandpa (my father) bought a set of implements for making Irish coffee when I was only about 14 or 15 years old. It comprised of four stem glasses (not stemmed mug), an alcohol burner and a rack into which a stemmed glass may fit. The ritual that we did at home where I grew up went like this. A small shot of Irish whiskey is poured into the bottom of the glass. The glass is then warmed up in the rack with the alcohol burner. The whiskey would ignite. Coffee (very strong) would be poured into the glass to extinguish the burning whiskey. Whipped cream goes on top next, carefully so it would float on top of the coffee. It is now ready to be sugared to taste. As you stir to work the sugar in, the whipped cream would partially work into the coffee but the air whipped into the cream would ensure that there is a head of foamy cream on top. Grandpa's glasses have a line to show the amount of coffee to be poured. The level that the cream would float is where the words "Irish Coffee" are imprinted on the glass to show against the white creamy layer (of whipped cream). There is also a green shamrock design within the glass in the flattened stem. It was all very gorgeous. Over the years, one or two of the glasses may have been broken. In recent years, I have found some in flea markets that I have bought to re-supply grandpa. Some were almost exactly the same while others were functionally the same but of different designs. Grandpa now has a large set of Irish coffee goblets. They are all goblets, not stemmed mugs. The shape and size are very similar to the wine glass you used and showed in the picture. Yours, of course, does not have the coffe pouring line, the "Irish Coffee" imprint and the green shamrock. Otherwise, it is perfect in my mind, at least in terms of family tradition.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your stories about Wai family history. Also, Sebastian, the picture's awesome, looks like you *Geoff voice* nailed it.
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