RSSThe Perfect Irish Coffee
March 15th, 2010 by MarkIrish Coffee is a St. Patrick’s Day tradition that marries the warmth of good coffee with the Celtic spirit of Irish whiskey.
We’re normally purists around here. No cream or sugar. Just great, carefully roasted coffee that allows the innate characteristics to shine through. However, sometimes it’s okay to mix a little booze in with your coffee, as long as you can still taste the coffee. We have a few folks around here with Irish in their blood, so we went on a quest to find the best coffee for this honored drink. We coupled our current collection of twelve caffeinated coffees with two beloved Irish whiskeys, Jameson and Bushmills, and tried all twenty-four combinations in four preliminary rounds
Over the past weeks, we assembled a tasting panel with impressive credentials—a bartender, several professional coffee tasters, and multiple members of an Irish family–to help us judge the twenty-four combinations, methodically rating and narrowing down the selections. We finally found the perfect combination to recommend to you, for your Irish Coffee drinking pleasure, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It was hard work, but someone had to do it.
Our winning combination?
Brazil Organic Mogiana and Jameson. This combo won us over with its chocolaty and nutty attributes, creating such a pleasing cohesive smoothness that is both comforting and festive. It’s a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in a cup.
But for those who say Jameson is too good to mix in a drink, you will be happy to know our close runner-up coupling is Papua New Guinea Kigabah and Bushmills; a well-rounded combination with hints of peaty earthiness. Nice fruit flavors develop as it cools.
The Perfect Irish Coffee Recipe:
1 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
5 oz Brazil Organic Mogiana coffee
Heavy cream, whipped
Pour a shot of Jameson into a warm glass or mug (preferably one with shamrocks and a gold rim).
Add the 1 ½ t of sugar to dissolve in the whiskey.
Pour in hot coffee, leaving room.
Top with cool whipped cream.
Do not mix; just enjoy sipping the hot coffee through the cool cream. Let the flavors blend in your mouth and enjoy with an Irish toast from us to you!
Our friends are the best friends, loyal willing and able.
Now let’s get to drinking! All glasses off the table!
Sláinte!
