Top o' the Coffee Pot to You

by Erin Meister, Posted Mar 17th 2010 @ 11:00AM

Forget the green beer -- everybody knows that Irish coffee is a much better way to wash down the St. Pat's soda bread and corned beef, right?

At least, as the legend goes, some weary American travelers thought so in 1952, when a bartender in the Shannon Airport whipped up the concoction to warm them after a hard day of difficult wintertime flight. The drink allegedly made its way back stateside through San Francisco's Buena Vista Cafe, which still touts it as a specialty of the house.

For starters, the coffee's got to be good. Don't bother ordering one at your run-of-the-mill faux-Irish corner pub -- stick to eateries and bars that you know pride themselves on good coffee. Second, if you're going green for the holiday, you may as well specifically ask for an Irish whiskey -- I go for Powers, but Bushmills also fits the bill. (Of course, what happens outside of St. Patrick's Day stays outside of St. Patrick's Day...)

But what makes the perfect Irish coffee? Read on after the jump to find out.

Purists will tell you that the sugar (and go light on it, please) needs to be fully dissolved into the fresh, hot coffee before adding the cream, or it will sink sadly to the bottom of the mug. And if that cream comes from a charger, it's cheating -- true Irish coffee is topped with thicker, smoother hand-whipped or simply poured heavy cream, preferably of the unsweetened variety. Anything else, and you'll need more luck than any four-leaf clover can provide.

Have you ever had a perfect Irish coffee? Tell us about it in the comments.

Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

Filed Under: Drink Recipes, Drinks, Coffee
Tags: buena vista cafe, coffee, coffee cocktails, Irish coffee

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-17-2010 @12:27PM Erik said... I learned how to make irish coffee from the best. Rod's ranch house in West Orange. All the waiters were Irish. 30 years ago.
Most important is to have a thin glass with stem. take a slice of orange, rim the glass and dip in bar sugar (superfine) . use one shot of GOOD irish whiskey, Tullamare Dew, very good and hot coffee over the top leave 1/2 inch from the top. 1 1/2 tesp bar sugar, stir until sugar is gone, invert spoon and touch tip to top of coffee, use heavy cream in a small pitcher with spout, pour cream onto back of spoon slowly, the sugar will keep the cream from sinking to bottom ( it sinks, not enough sugar) Sip through the sugar and cream and see heaven!

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3-17-2010 @1:17PM Amanda said... Today would be the perfect day to have a St. Pattys Day cake!! Bet you havent seen one like this before! :)

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2010/03/st-pattys-day-cake.html
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3-17-2010 @6:22PM my spatula said... we're headed to buena vista cafe tonight! yes, their irish coffees are legendary (and STRONG). :) http://kissmyspatula.com/
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