Good ole Irish Coffee

There are several of you that have had the pleasure of drinking one (or several) of these delicious coffees and I felt it only fitting to throw up the recipe for this and tell the story that goes with its 'perfection'. You see, I always claimed to have the best recipe for this drink, considering I started making them at home for the parents (sorry Catherine, your secret is out) most likely at the age of 9 or 10. It was great, we got to stay up late and make drinks for Mum, Dad and whomever of there friends they were entertaining at the time.

It is kind of your birthright as an Irish person to instinctively know how to make this drink, and it will be consistently delicious every time.

When I met Ron at BrewWorks a million years ago, we were in the opening phase of the bar and needed a recipe. I argued that mine should be the one we use, and Ron (IMAGINE) argued that his WOULD be the recipe we would use. We had to have a 'taste off' where we both made our own recipe and had Ken Lewis (the boss) taste and deliver an answer.

Ron and I had just met (2 days prior) and although I was already very smitten, he was not having any of it. So, there was NO chance of me winning him over and he was the king of recipes.

After tasting his recipe and giving careful consideration to the fact that he was my future husband I conceded to use his recipe with one minor change. His coffee was terrible, but his whipped cream was divine. (keep it clean folks - we had not even dated at this point).

As he was quite chuffed at 'winning the battle' I decided to make a run for 'winning the war'. I invited him over to try out our new recipe and although I had to keep him 'drunk' for 3 days, he finally gave in and agreed to date me.

Amazing what a girl has got to do to land a husband these days.

Needless to say, the recipe is still intact and used by many. I hope, after you try it out (esp. you MarySue, Jane & Carmen) I think that it will bring back many many memories of the howling laughter we have shared over this drink.

Ingredients:

2 oz whiskey (or more if you like it)

Boiling hot water (really boiling)

1 tsp sugar (raw sugar cane is the best and use more sugar if you like it sweet)

1 tsp instant coffee (yes, I said instant, NO - do not try it with good coffee)

Heavy whipping cream

Vanilla essence (a few drops)

White/Superfine sugar

First, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla essence to a perfect whip. Not too thick, not too thin. Just right. Stick in fridge and leave there until ready to make your drink. (same day and NEVER EVER use that crap in a can that squirts).

Boil the water. Put sugar and coffee in a glass. Add whiskey. Fill 2/3rds of the way from the top, stirring until you are certain the sugar is dissolved. Taste to make sure there is enough sugar in the drink.

Get 2 teaspoons and a cup. Place spoons in cup and 1/2 fill with boiling water.

Get cream from fridge and start spooning it onto the hot coffee mix with the use of these teaspoons. You should be able to float the cream nicely on top assuming you have the right mix of whiskey, sugar and coffee.

Dust a little instant coffee on top for garnish.

Sit back, drink and enjoy. NEVER mix the cream into the coffee. That is just gauche!

That is all the WiseWords for today,

WiseMóna