Irish coffee's journey from Ireland to San Francisco
By Andrew Healy
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — What started as a drink created to warm weary stranded air travelers in the west of Ireland has become one of the world's most iconic cocktails. Such is its status that Irish coffee even has its own day of celebration with Irish Coffee Day taking place annually on Jan. 25 all over the world.
There are still questions in historical circles as to whether Irish coffee was indeed invented on that fateful night in the winter of 1943 at Foynes Airport or if it was first sipped and savored at the Dolphin Hotel in Dublin in 1940. One thing accepted by all, however, is that The Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco popularized Irish coffee and to this day sells more Irish coffee than any other establishment on the planet.
The generally accepted and oft-told story of the creation of Irish coffee goes back to the days of the flying boats. As they lacked sufficient range for Atlantic crossings, these great hulking aircraft would make their final stop in Europe at Foynes Airport on the estuary of the River Shannon, the longest river in Ireland.
On a stormy winter night in late 1943, one of these flying boats left Foynes headed for New York. Soon after taking off, however, the Pan Am plane's captain decided to return and wait for better flying conditions. Having been alerted of the returning plane by Morse code, airport officials called their restaurant staff back in to prepare some warming food and drinks.
Chef Joe Sheridan mixed a measure of Irish whiskey with some Demerara sugar and some freshly brewed coffee and topped it all off with some whipped cream. These four simple ingredients have been tweaked slightly over the years but are still the cornerstone of an Irish coffee.
Foynes shuttered in 1945 when Rineanna, now Shannon International Airport, opened a few miles up the estuary, and Sheridan and the staff from the restaurant moved to the new location. They brought their iconic creation with them, and Irish coffee was a staple welcome drink at Shannon Airport for years, which is where the connection to The Buena Vista was made.
Stanton "Stan" Delaplane, a Pulitzer Prize-winning travel writer who worked for the San Francisco Chronicle, first tasted an Irish coffee while traveling through Shannon Airport in 1951. He was so taken by the drink that once back in San Francisco he told his friend Jack Koeppler, owner of The Buena Vista, about the Irish coffee, and they set about trying to re-create it stateside.
Despite countless hours experimenting with various recipes, they couldn't initially replicate the Irish coffee to Delaplane's liking. They weren't convinced of the overall taste, and the cream wouldn't float on top. Koeppler apparently took some time out from this experimentation to go to Shannon Airport himself and try Sheridan's creation.
The answer to the cream issue was to be found across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County, where then-San Francisco mayor, Elmer Robinson, owned a dairy farm. After yet more experimentation they discovered that if the cream was aged for 48 hours and then whipped to an exact consistency it would finally float.
And so after all of that work, on Nov. 10, 1952, Irish coffee made its debut at The Buena Vista. It was an instant hit and sparked a significant increase in Irish whiskey sales, with Time magazine reporting in 1954 that Irish whiskey exports to America had increased 40%.
Again, historians disagree on these details, with the New York Herald Tribune's food critic, Clementine Paddleford, credited with writing about Irish coffee in her 1948 St. Patrick's Day column.
Today The Buena Vista serves an average of 2,000 Irish coffees a day, and in the process they go through at least 100 bottles of Tullamore D.E.W., the Irish whiskey most closely associated with Irish coffee. As an aside, the D.E.W. in the Tullamore name stands for Daniel Edmund Williams, who was a general manager and later owner of the original distillery in Tullamore.
Here in the Napa Valley you can enjoy an Irish coffee at a number of bars and restaurants as follows.
Napa
Kitchen Door, 1300 First St., Suite 272, Napa, CA 94559; 707-226-1560
The Fink, 530 Main St., Napa, CA 94559; 707-266-5940
Yountville
Brix, 7377 St. Helena Highway, Napa, CA 94558; 707-944-2749
Rutherford
Rutherford Grill, 1180 Rutherford Road, Rutherford, CA 94573; 707-963-1792
St. Helena
Goose & Gander, 1245 Spring St., St Helena, CA 94574; 707-967-8779
Calistoga
Calistoga Inn, 1250 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, CA 94515; 707-942-4101
If you are looking to make your Irish coffee at home to celebrate Irish Coffee Day — or just because — here are some tips to help guide you.
Glass
A 6-ounce Libbey Georgian glass is considered the proper glass in which to serve Irish coffee. While any heatproof glass or mug will work, the 6-ounce Libbey glass allows for the correct portioning of the ingredients.
Sugar
Demerara sugar is traditionally used in an Irish coffee in Ireland, although The Buena Vista uses two cubes of local C&H white sugar. Other brown sugars, such as Muscovado, can also be used and will add a little more depth to the finished drink.
Whiskey
Tullamore D.E.W. is traditionally the Irish whiskey that is used in an Irish coffee, but you can use your own favorite. Other great Irish whiskey options include, but are not limited to, Powers Gold Label, Jameson Caskmates Stout Cask, Teeling Small Batch, Fercullen Falls, Paddy’s, Black Bush from Bushmills and Lost Irish. If you like your whiskey with a hint of peat, try using The Legendary Silkie from Sliabh Liag.
Coffee
Historically Ireland was not known as a coffee-drinking nation, with tea being the hot beverage of choice. That has changed over the last couple of decades with a strong coffee culture now part of modern Ireland, but tea still rules. The general consensus is that a medium-roast coffee makes the best Irish coffee as you're looking for a balance between the component parts and don't want one to overpower any of the others.
Cream
This is arguably the trickiest part of the whole drink, as Delaplane and Koeppler discovered in the early 1950s. You'll need to find the right whipped consistency to get your cream to float, and using the back of a warmed spoon will make this a little easier. Let your cream warm slightly before you float it by taking it out of the refrigerator five to 10 minutes before you plan to use it.
You are welcome to use the recipe below exactly as is or add your own personal riffs to it.
Irish Coffee
Ingredients:
1 ounce Irish whiskey
3 ounces coffee (espresso or filter)
1 tablespoon Demerara sugar or 1/2 ounce Demerara syrup
1 1/2 ounces whipped cream
Optional: Grated nutmeg and/or three coffee beans for garnish
Instructions:
Warm a 6-ounce Libbey Georgian glass by filling it with hot water. Leave for about 30 seconds, then discard the water.
Add 1 ounce of Irish whiskey and 1/2 ounce of Demerara syrup to the glass.
Fill the glass 90% full with 3 ounces of coffee.
Gently stir the sugar, whiskey and coffee to dissolve the sugar.
Float the whipped cream on top of the coffee by slowly pouring it over the back of a warmed spoon.
Optionally, garnish with grated nutmeg and/or three coffee beans.
Serve, sip and savor.
Many people have their own takes on an Irish coffee, and it is a great drink with which to experiment. Similar to other classic cocktail recipes such as the Old Fashioned or a Manhattan, you can change up the Irish whiskey that you use or try a different sugar, sweetener or even a sugar syrup such as Demerara Syrup. The possibilities are almost endless.
Sláinte! ("Sláinte" is an Irish word that translates to "health" in English. It's commonly used in Ireland as a toast while drinking, like saying "Cheers!" in English. The pronunciation of "Sláinte" is approximately "slawn-cha.")
I appreciate the Foynes Flying Boat Museum & Maritime Museum for allowing me to use their images. If you're in Limerick, Ireland and interested in Irish Coffee, I recommend visiting their Irish Coffee Center.
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Andrew Healy was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and has lived in Napa since 2008. He works as an independent Irish Whiskey educator, hosting events both virtual and in-person. Follow Healy’s Irish whiskey journey @IrishWhiskeyLAD.