Looking for an Irish coffee recipe? Want to know how to make authentic Irish coffee? Read on for info on how to make and serve the favorite drink of the people of Ireland…
When it comes to hot drinks the Irish are fonder of coffee as compared to tea. But unlike the Americans the Irish do not consume coffee as a breakfast drink rather coffee in Ireland is a dinner time drink.
You will be able to find a plethora of recipes for Irish coffee each having a slightly different twist to it. Some of them incorporate the use of whipped cream where as others are topped with maraschino cherries. Some recipes even have crème de menthe.
All these additions are made to the original Irish coffee which is the classic drink of the nation. There are some unique Irish coffee recipes that are reserved for special occasions such as the green crème de menthe over the cream made in the shape of a shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day. For the hard core old school coffee drinkers it is the classic Irish coffee that matters.
Irish coffee is to be served in clear glass mugs as of tradition. These mugs need to be warmed before in hot water. When you are done making the coffee it should have three distinct layers. The bottom most layer has the coffee and the top most layer is the cream. The middle layer has a mixture of both these things. Another interesting thing to do is to brush the rims of the serving mugs with granulated sugar.
In order to get the best flavor you need to serve the coffee as soon as it is prepared. Remember you do not stir Irish coffee you just sip it through the layer of cream.
You need brown sugar, brewed coffee and whipped cream to make your own Irish coffee. You will start off by heating the mug and then adding the coffee and brown sugar to make a paste. Once the paste has formed you will add the rest of the hot brewed coffee and stir it nicely to combine the ingredients.
When the coffee is ready you will top it off with a generous amount of whipped cream. This cream is not to be stirred in and you need to serve the coffee just as soon as it is ready.
Origins of Irish coffee
The man credited with developing the original Irish coffee is Joseph Sheridan. He used to be the head chef at Foynes in County Limerick. It was however the travel writer Stanton Delaplane who brought Irish coffee to the United States after having been exposed to it during his trip to Ireland. It took the Americans quite some time to figure out how to get the cream to float on top of the coffee but eventually they were able to figure it out.
Irish coffee is not loved by everybody though. In fact there are some people who strongly detest the notion of having the cream and coffee mixed together. Nonetheless Irish coffee has become popular around the world in recent years and is served in modern coffee houses today.