RECIPE: Irish Coffee

This glass is part of a set of 4. My Grandfather and Grandmother brought them back over 20 years ago from their trip to Ireland. Grandma gave them to me a few years ago. I love them!

Irish Coffee

Heat a stemmed whiskey goblet.
Pour in one shot of Irish whiskey.
Add three sugar cubes.
Fill with strong black coffee to within one inch of top. Stir gently.
Top off with whipped cream. Do not stir in the cream.

Irish Coffee is rich in taste and rich in history. Irish Coffee was first served in 1942 at the restaurant in the Foynes Airport in Ireland by Chef Joe Sheridan. Foynes Airport was the main airport serving the Flying Boats between Europe and America. Since it was the main airport, many celebrities came through that airport and often had long waits due to inclement weather and the small restaurant was upgraded into a finer dining establishment. Well one fateful night, a flight left Foynes headed to New York via Botwood, Newfoundland but the plane had to turn around because of dangerous weather conditions. The pilot called ahead to the restaurant to make sure that the kitchen was ready for guests who would need to be warmed up and well taken care of. Well, according to the lore of Irish Coffee, Joe Sheridan wanted to add a little zing to help warm the passengers up so he poured some whisky into the coffee. The American passenger, took a sip and asked if it were Brazilian coffee and Sheridan quickly replied that no indeed it was not but it was “Irish Coffee”. Well history was made and it became the official drink of Foynes Airport. But the story does not end there and nor does the path that Irish Coffee was to take. In 1945 that little airport was closed to make way for the Shannon Airport where landplanes were the new technology and boat planes became practically obsolete. Joe Sheridan followed the planes and took his Irish Coffee to Shannon. 10 year later, in 1952, Joe Sheridan took one of those planes across the ocean and over the United States and landed in San Francisco. He found a job at the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco where Irish Coffee was quickly embraced. And thankfully for us, it was here to stay. Slainte !!!

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