Irish Coffee with Floated Cream

Before you start

Irish coffee is hot, sweetened coffee spiked with Irish whiskey and capped with cold cream. You drink the hot coffee through the cool cream rather than stirring them together, and that contrast is the whole point. Sugar is not optional: it raises the density of the coffee so the cream can sit on top instead of sinking through.

The cream is where most versions go wrong. Liquid cream sinks; stiffly whipped cream sits like a lump and does not blend with each sip. You want cream whipped only until it is thick and pourable, roughly like melted ice cream, so it slides off a spoon and settles in a smooth white band about 2 cm deep. Preheat the glass and use freshly brewed coffee so the drink stays hot under that layer.

Ingredients

• 40 ml (1⅓ oz) Irish whiskey
• 120 ml (4 oz) hot, freshly brewed coffee — medium roast, drip or French press, a little stronger than usual
• 2 tsp (about 8 g) brown sugar — or 15 ml (½ oz) 1:1 brown sugar syrup
• 30 ml (1 oz) heavy cream — cold, lightly whipped to a pourable thickness
• as needed boiling water — to warm the glass

Method

1. Fill the glass with boiling water and leave it for a minute to heat through. A cold glass drops the coffee temperature quickly.
2. Put the cream in a small jar with a tight lid and shake it for 10 to 20 seconds, or whisk it in a bowl, until it thickens and coats a spoon but still pours slowly. Stop before it holds any peaks.
3. Empty the glass. Add the brown sugar and the hot coffee and stir until the sugar has fully dissolved; no grains should scrape on the bottom.
4. Stir in the whiskey. Leave about 2 cm (¾ in) of space at the top of the glass for the cream.
5. Hold a teaspoon upside down just touching the surface of the coffee and pour the cream slowly over the back of it, moving the spoon outward so the cream spreads into an even layer.
6. Serve right away without stirring. Sip the coffee through the cream.

Tips for success

• If the cream keeps sinking, the coffee needs more sugar or the cream needs a few more seconds of shaking. Both changes help it float.
• Brew the coffee fresh and use it hot, around 80°C (175°F) or above. Coffee that has sat on a hot plate tastes burnt under the sweetness.
• A clear glass lets you see whether the cream has formed a clean layer, which is the best check on your technique.

Substitutions

Brown sugar

White sugar works and floats the cream just as well but tastes plainer. Demerara gives a deeper molasses flavor. Do not skip sugar entirely or the cream will sink.

Irish whiskey

Any whisky works technically, but a peated Scotch dominates the coffee. A smooth bourbon makes a sweeter, vanilla-leaning drink.

Heavy cream

Whipping cream with a lower fat content floats only when shaken a little longer. Half-and-half will not float; pour it in and stir instead.

Variations

Nutmeg finish

Grate a little fresh nutmeg over the cream just before serving.

Decaf Irish coffee

Use a freshly brewed decaf coffee for an evening drink with very little caffeine.

Troubleshooting

The cream sinks into the coffee

It is too thin or the coffee is not sweet enough. Shake the cream longer until it is thick but pourable, and make sure all the sugar dissolved.

The cream sits in a stiff lump

It was over-whipped. Stir in a spoonful of liquid cream to loosen it, or start again with fresh cream and stop sooner.

The drink is lukewarm

Preheat the glass with boiling water and use coffee straight from the brewer. Keep the cream cold; only the coffee should be hot.

Storage

Serve immediately. Lightly whipped cream can be made up to an hour ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator; shake briefly before using. Do not leave cream at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

Safety notes

Contains about 40 ml of 40% Irish whiskey, roughly 0.9 U.S. standard drinks, plus caffeine from a cup of coffee. Hot liquid in glass can scald; use a heat-resistant glass. Serve only to adults of legal drinking age and never drink and drive.