Luck of the Irish Coffee

For a holiday that has come to involve so much alcohol, St. Patrick's Day is badly in need of a good drink. Beer, even tinted green, is too workaday. Stout is too stolid. Sweet liqueurs like Irish Mist and Baileys Irish Cream are just too everything. But Irish coffee is worth toasting: the boggy funk of whiskey rising through an equatorial brew to meet a cool cloud of whipped cream.

Luck of the Irish Coffee

A warm and inviting cocktail with the rich flavors of Irish whiskey, hot coffee, and a luscious whipped cream topping.

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • optional: a dash of vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey
  • 3/4 cup hot, fresh coffee

Instructions

  1. Whip the cold heavy cream until it starts to form soft peaks.
  2. Just before the cream forms soft peaks, add 1/2 teaspoon sugar and a dash of vanilla extract if desired, and continue to whip until firm.
  3. Pour the remaining 1/2 teaspoon sugar into a tall ceramic or glass mug.
  4. Add the Irish whiskey to the mug.
  5. Pour the hot coffee into the mug, leaving about an inch of space below the brim.
  6. Apply a generous dollop of the whipped cream on top.