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Booze banter: 10 facts about the Irish Coffee
By Ted SimmonsAhead of National Irish Coffee Day tomorrow (25 January), we’re bringing you everything you need to know about the iconic whiskey cocktail made to warm in the winter months.

Every March, Irish whiskey gets its moment in the sun, but there’s good reason to enjoy the spirit in the months leading up to St Patrick’s Day (17 March) – especially on National Irish Coffee Day.
By combining Irish whiskey with hot coffee, the cocktail captures a modern fascination with drinks that offer a jolt, while boasting a rich history to match. Perfectly suited for the cold winter months, here is everything you need to know about the drink, from how to make it, to which bars are making them the best.
In the mood for more cocktail education? Check out our fact guides to the Negroni, Margarita, and the Piña Colada.
1. The what
As the name suggests, the Irish Coffee is a combination of Irish whiskey and hot coffee, but at its best, it balances bitter and sweet flavours while juxtaposing hot and cold temperatures.
When done correctly, the cream provides a luscious mouthfeel that puts the Irish Coffee in the pantheon of hot cocktails, alongside the Toddy and Hot Buttered Rum.
It is an Irish drink at its core, and requires an Irish whiskey as the base. “You shouldn’t have to do much to make the base spirit shine in the drink,” says Tyler Newcomb, beverage manager at O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “A good Irish Coffee is a simple build, using quality ingredients.”
2. The how
With only four ingredients – whiskey, coffee, sugar, and cream – making a proper Irish Coffee means minding the details. Here’s what you’ll need and the steps to follow.
- 180ml hot, freshly brewed coffee
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 45ml Irish whiskey
- Freshly whipped cream
First, fill a glass with hot water, then discard. Add sugar, then coffee, and stir. Add Irish whiskey and stir again. Finally, spoon heavy, cold cream on top.
3. The who
There is some debate as to who first created the drink, but a popular origin story goes like this: on a dark and stormy night in 1943, a Pan Am flight headed to New York was forced to turn back, landing in Foynes Flying Boat Terminal, where passengers disembarked. The cook at the time, Joe Sheridan, was tasked with serving the Americans on board something that would warm them up, and so he mixed Irish whiskey with coffee, sugar, and cream. When one passenger asked if it was a Brazilian coffee, Sheridan replied, “No, it was an Irish coffee.”
4. Landing stateside
San Francisco Chronicle travel writer Stanton Delaplane is credited with bringing word of the drink to the US.
In 1952, he shared his experiences drinking a ‘Gaelic coffee’ with the then Buena Vista Cafe owner Jack Koeppler. A vintage advertisement from 1956 entices drinkers to enjoy an Irish coffee at the Buena Vista ‘after the theatre’, and the bar is known for its association with it still, serving between 2,000 and 2,500 per day as of 2021.
5. New York numbers
While the drink has early roots in San Francisco, it is a staple on the New York cocktail scene as well, especially at The Dead Rabbit.
The Financial District bar offers a traditional version, a Martini, an Alexander, and a non-alcoholic option. Its Frozen Irish coffee is currently out of stock.
In 2018, The Dead Rabbit sold 51,000 Irish coffees, using 2,000 bottles of Bushmills, 51 litres of Demerara syrup, 5,279 litres of coffee, and 1,508 litres of whipping cream.
6. Cream of the crop
“Whipped cream from a can doesn’t even come close to a homemade whipped cream,” Newcomb says, noting that this step is essential for a proper Irish Coffee. The trick is to add two cups heavy whipping cream, preferably 35% fat content, and two teaspoons of granulated sugar into a blender bottle that has a spring ball, and shake for 45 to 60 seconds. This will add texture and aeration that will allow the cream to sit on top.
Stephen Halpin, national advocacy and engagement manager at Disaronno International, says that this step is commonly overlooked, and beyond making homemade whipped cream, the technique used to apply it is also important. “The cream should be lightly whipped – just enough to thicken it but still allow it to float on top of the coffee. If it’s too stiff, it won’t float properly, and if it’s too soft, it will mix into the drink too quickly. Finding that perfect texture is key. To achieve the classic layered look, you need to pour the cream gently over the back of a spoon, allowing it to float on top of the coffee instead of mixing in.”
7. The biggest
In 2023, Paddy’s Bar & Grill, the oldest Irish bar in Portland, Oregon, set the Guinness World Record for the largest Irish Coffee by making a 1,000-litre version of the drink.
All ingredients, including 624.5 litres of coffee, 189 litres of whiskey, 96.6 litres of simple syrup and 96.6 litres of heavy whipping cream, were donated, and it took the staff more than five hours to make it. The previous record was 888 litres. Afterwards, Paddy’s sold pours of the colossal coffee for US$5 each, donating a portion of takings to charity.
8. An Irish icon
While a great Irish Coffee needs homemade cream and strong, good coffee, it is, at its heart, a showcase for Irish whiskey.
The Irish Coffee is the only drink on the International Bartenders Association’s list of cocktails that calls for Irish whiskey. But that’s not to say that bartenders are confined when it comes to choosing a base spirit.
Newcomb at O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co says that one of the best Irish Coffees he’s ever had was the Belfast Coffee at Bar 1661 in Dublin. “It features Poitín, which is essentially an unaged Irish whiskey made from malted barley. It stuck out because it was the first time I’d had a Poitín cocktail, and it was bold, sweet, and strong. I love a cocktail that gets to the point,” he says.
The bar’s house Irish Coffee, meanwhile, features Tullamore Dew, Kerrygold, Guinness, soda bread, coffee and cream.
9. Scandinavian support
According to a 2024 study by Coffeeness, a German-based coffee resource that uses Google search results to compile data, Irish Coffee is the most popular coffee drink in Finland, Ireland, and Sweden, while in Norway, it is tied with iced coffee. In fact, Norway has its own variation called Karsk, which dates back to the 1800s. The drink traditionally mixes black coffee with moonshine and features no cream.
10. Jameson reigns
In 2023, alcohol sales platform Overproof released data on the most popular brands used in Irish coffees served in bars and restaurants across the US, finding that Jameson was the featured whiskey 72% of the time, with Tullamore Dew coming in second at 22.3%. When accounting for liqueurs though, Jameson was only featured 17% of the time, with Irish cream liqueur Baileys appearing in 42.6% of recipes.
One of London’s most popular Irish Coffees, served by Bar Swift, is made using Jameson Caskmates. The serve was previously the subject of our Cocktail stories series – and it is still holding strong on the menu today.
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