• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Simply Happy Foodie

Easy Recipes, Instant Pot recipes and slow cooker recipes

  • Home
  • Recent Posts
  • Recipes
  • My Cookbooks
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosures / Disclaimers / Copyright
    • Contact Me
    • Meet Gizmo, Our Foodie Pug
  • Cook’s Shop
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Classic Irish Coffee Recipe

October 17, 2018 by Sandy 2 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Enjoy this delicious Classic Irish Coffee Recipe on a cool evening, or a special gathering. We like to drink Irish Coffees during the Holidays, and when we are inside on a snowy day. This is the original Irish Coffee recipe.

Classic Irish Coffee Recipe in a glass on a wooden board

Classic Irish Coffee Recipe

Adding a “wee dram” of whiskey to a mug of coffee is not a new thing, by any stretch. I remember my Grandpa having some at Christmas. The Classic Irish Coffee is by far the most popular coffee “hot cocktail” that I know about.

I couldn’t share the recipe without the history, so here’s the story…

This tasty hot coffee cocktail was made famous in America by a man named Stanton Delaplane, who was a travel writer.

It all started on the night of November 10th, 1952. Jack Koeppler, who was the owner of the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco, California, challenged Delaplane to help him recreate a much loved “Irish Coffee” that was served at Shannon Airport in Ireland.

Delaplane agreed to help, and he and Koeppler started to experiment.

Classic Irish Coffee Recipe in a glass on a wooden board

Things were going well, except that they had trouble getting the cream to float on top of the coffee (called a “collar”). They went to see the Mayor of SF, who happened to be a dairy owner.

He figured out that if he aged the cream for two days, and only lightly whipped it, the consistency was perfect and floated on the coffee and made the perfect collar (‘collar’ is the top layer of cream)!

As with other layered cocktails, it helps the layer stay on top if you use a spoon to break the stream of the cream as you pour it. Just hold the spoon over the glass (upside down, or domed side up) and pour the lightly whipped cream over the spoon.

The Best Whiskey to Make a Classic Irish Coffee with:
It’s Irish Coffee, so an Irish Whiskey is best!
• Tullamore D.E.W.
• Jameson Irish Whiskey

blue banner with the words you might also like
Spiced Apple Hot Toddy
Moscow Mule Cocktail
Fruity Red Sangria
Fancy Peach Margarita

Pin This Recipe

Classic Irish Coffee with the recipe title and Simply Happy Foodie.com logo

5 from 1 vote
Classic Irish Coffee Recipe in a glass on a wooden board
Print
Classic Irish Coffee Recipe
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
1 min
Total Time
6 mins
 

Enjoy this delicious Classic Irish Coffee Recipe on a cool evening, or a special gathering. We like to drink Irish Coffees during the Holidays, and when we are inside on a snowy day. This is the original Irish Coffee recipe from the Buena Vista Cafe.

Course: cocktails
Cuisine: Irish
Keyword: original Irish coffee recipe
Servings: 1
Calories: 192 kcal
Author: Sandy Clifton
Ingredients
  • Hot Water
  • 6 oz Brewed Hot Coffee
  • 1 1/2 oz Irish Whiskey (Tullamore D.E.W. or Jameson)
  • 2 cubes Cane Sugar* (or 3 tsp brown sugar)
  • Soft Whipped Cream
  • dash Cinnamon (optional)
  • dash Nutmeg (optional)
Instructions
Warm Up the Mug
  1. Fill an Irish Coffee glass mug with hot water, and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then dump out the water.


Make the Irish Coffee
  1. Add the hot coffee and sugar cubes, and stir until sugar is dissolved.

  2. Add the whiskey and stir.

  3. Top with about an inch of lightly whipped cream. (pour it over the back of a spoon that is over the glass to get a nice collar/layer).

  4. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon and/or nutmeg on top for a little extra spiciness (optional).

Recipe Notes

*I also enjoy making Irish Coffee with brown sugar, as it has a warm flavor.

Adapted from The Buena Vista Cafe


pink button with the words follow my pinterest board

RESOURCES TO MAKE Classic Irish Coffee Recipe and more

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Filed Under: Drinks & Cocktails, Holiday, Recipes

Previous Post: « Instant Pot Vegetable Tortellini Soup
Next Post: Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup »

Reader Interactions

My Instant Pot Cookbook is Here!

Instant Pot Cookbook Cover

Comments

  1. Trey

    October 18, 2018 at 1:27 am

    This recipe is perfect. We didn’t have the whiskeys you mentioned but it was still really good. Our friends loved them.

    Reply
    • Sandy

      October 18, 2018 at 1:34 am

      That’s great, Trey! Thank you for your review!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi there!

Sandy wearing a black shirt and a red apron I’m Sandy - foodie with a passion for cooking and sharing my tasty recipes. My hubby Paul, our Pug Gizmo, and I live in Washington.

Reader Favorite Recipes

Top view of Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy on a blue plate

Instant Pot Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy

Hamburger Stroganoff on a white plate with fork next to bunch of parsley

Instant Pot Hamburger Stroganoff

Hamburgers with cheese, lettuce, and tomato on a black plate in front of a pressure cooker

Instant Pot Hamburgers

Instant Pot Potato Ham Soup in a beige bowl with veggies

Instant Pot Potato Ham Soup

See More Favorites

free email course

New to Instant Pot?

5 Foolproof Instant Pot Recipes for Beginners

Footer

Privacy Policy

Copyrighted Content
This website and its contents are the copyright of Simply Happy Foodie LLC – © 2016-2020.  All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2021 Simply Happy Foodie

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.