I have this thing for Irish coffee. For me, it’s a real treat and I often make one if sitting in on a Friday or Saturday night. I have many friends who are partial to the odd Irish / French / Baileys coffee and one thing that always surprises me is the amount of people that get it wrong. Personally, I think I make a mean Irish coffee and I’m not saying that mine is the best, but here are some tips that may help to improve on your versions.
1. Heat the glass – this is important as it’ll help keep the drink hotter for longer. It sounds simple but so many people don’t do it. Put a teaspoon into the glass and fill the glass about a third of the way with boiling water. Then tilt the glass & turn it gently so the water gets to heat every part of the glass. Pour the water out after about 10 seconds of this. The teaspoon stops the glass from cracking apparently. 2. Add the sugar & coffee – one teaspoon of brown sugar & one teaspoon of good coffee granules. Obviously, if you’ve a coffee maker, make a pot. Add some water, about 4/5’s up the glass & stir so the sugar completely dissolves. If you don’t do this, the sugar will sit at the bottom without sweetening the drink. 3. Add the Irish whiskey – please note IRISH whiskey; not scotch, not JD; Irish whiskey. Also, measure it! Some people load the glass with whiskey thinking it is better with more liquor, it’s not. Too much whiskey makes the coffee difficult to drink and also makes the drink go cold. I don’t have a proper spirit measure so I normally put in about 2 cap fulls. 4. Stir again and pour the cream in over the back of a dessert spoon which will help it to float. This requires some practice and the cream should be whipped to the point where it forms soft peaks. Also, if you’re worried about wasting cream, it freezes well so pop what’s left into a freezer bag and you always have an Irish Coffee at hand.
If you couldn’t be bothered making an Irish Coffee at home or would just prefer to go out for a good one, Debbie from Fennessey’s makes the best I’ve tried in Limerick.
On another note, we’ve been calling to Cahill’s on Wickham Street most Saturday mornings for espressos after the market. It’s primarily a tobacco shop but they’ve introduced a new coffee machine and have a great selection of handmade Belgian truffles. They also have a good selection of coffee granules for sale as well as bars of Valrhona chocolate (widely regarded as the Rolls Royce of chocolate). They don’t have any seats but it’s nice for a quick coffee & choc before heading off to finish off the rest of the Saturday morning chores.
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