Irish coffee. Photo: LeNell Smothers

Alabama-born LeNell Smothers defines herself first and foremost as a bartender, but she's been called many things -- most recently, the proprietress of LeNell's liquor store. She's owned her own whiskey label called Red Hook Rye and has been recognized by her home state as an honorary Colonel. Other interests include gin, sin and men.

Whiskey and wine consume me as well as I them, but coffee must have captured my heart. Unfortunately, my household move from New York City to Mexico has been held up by the restoration of my antique Faema "Urania" espresso machine. Thank the java gods who inspire rare folks such as the Italian gents at Omnipak Imports in New York to work their magic and lovingly bring back to life such old monster machines. How can I ever serve guests at Casa Cóctel with my dignity intact without a proper machine to make lovely coffee drinks? Coffee is just yet another ingredient in the cocktail pantry.

Sean Muldoon is the mastermind behind the award-winning bar menu of the Merchant Hotel in Belfast. When I say award-winning, I mean they took the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail Spirit Awards by storm, with World's Best Drink Selection, World's Best Hotel Bar and World's Best Cocktail Menu. I had my best ever Irish Coffee in this gorgeous historic bar with the sweetheart, Mr. Muldoon, as my host.

We already know that although it's creamy and delicious, eggnog might be one of the worst Holiday cocktails out there. However, there are a few others that you might want to avoid just to get a jump start on those health- and weight-related New Year's Resolutions:

• White Russian, made of coffee liqueur, vodka, and cream, it has 863 calories!
  
• Mudslide, which is basically a White Russian with the addition of Bailey's Irish Cream and chocolate syrup. No wonder it's 851 calories.
• Hot Buttered Rum Latte exceeds the recommended daily intake of sugar by 36 grams.
• Chocolate Martini is probably the least evil on the list because "chocolate is healthy." It's also 438 calories.
• Admittedly, we had never heard of the Blushin' Russian, and wonder why not because it has delicious Amaretto in it! Oh yeah, maybe because we'd rather take 404 calories as a Big Mac.
• Mulled Wine is bad?!?! We were crushed, but if you make it yourself and cut back on the sugar, you'll do better than the usual 356 calories and 40 grams of carbs.
• Eggnog, surprisingly, is lower than the previous half dozen drinks with only 343 calories, but we think it's evil comes from the fact that you drink at least one every night, everywhere you go, from Thanksgiving to New Year's.
• Brandy Alexander has 297 calories. Oh well. There goes another luscious creamy drink.
  
• At 210 calories, Irish Coffee is the slimmest of the cocktails, but let's not get crazy. It's still 210 calories that you could down in 20 seconds (you'll also burn your mouth, but that's not the point, now is it?)

Irish Coffee is a hot coffee drink that bears a striking resemblance to a mug of freshly poured Guinness because of the way it layers whiskey-spiked coffee and cream. The drink was invented (as best anyone can say, anyway) by the head chef at Foynes, a now-defunct (replaced by Shannon Airport) in Western Ireland sometime in the 1940s. It was a hit with travelers and was eventually brought to the US by a travel writer working for the San Francisco Chronicle, who pushed it down the road to popularity by getting it on the menu at the Buena Vista bar.

The drink consists of lightly sweetened coffee with a head of whipped cream. The coffee must be sweetened with a bit of sugar to allow the cream to float neatly on top. It is traditionally served in a special Irish coffee mug, like the one pictured, but any glass that allows you to see the layering should do.

Read on for the recipe: