Have you ever had one of those days where everything just seems to go wrong? You feel like you work for the boss from hell. You were late which gave the said boss the opportunity to start your day off with a reprimand. Your dog had fun digging up your yard. To top it all off, you got bad news from home. Worse: you got caught in the downpour and came home soaking wet and now have a cold. Can your day get any worse?
For some, this is the best excuse to bring out the whisky. “What?!”, you say. “Alcohol won’t solve anything”. So true! But mixed with coffee, it can help warm you up. Think of it as a nice hot toddy.
The object is not to get you sloshed. The object is to just add a little zap to your latte. It can help settle your nerves, or so a lot of people believe.
Irish coffee is coffee with whisky and cream. Though some claims have been made that it was created by Irish pubs in San Francisco, it has been established that the true creator was Mr Joseph Sheridan, head Chef of the Foynes, to help the passengers disembarking from the seaplane to warm up after their long voyage. There is in fact marking the achievement of the creation of Irish coffee at the Shannon airport.
To create the original Shannon Irish Coffee you need to heat a stemmed whiskey goblet, then pour in a shot of whiskey. Add three sugar cubes then fill the goblet with strong black coffee until it is an inch from the top. Then top it off to the brim with heavy cream that is slightly aerated.
Please note that the cream is not meant to be stirred in. The coffee must be drunk through the cream. Most ready made whipped creams just won’t do as well. It is best if you use untreated cream and beat it yourself.
This recipe is courtesy of Castletown.com
Originally posted on June 27, 2006 @ 8:31 pm