[InsideHook] A celebration of the ideal winter drink on National Irish Coffee Day — with some recipe assistance from two iconic bars.It seems obvious now: The best winter drink should always involve hot coffee and whisky in some form.
But Irish Coffee is a relatively young drink. A quick recap: This sterling winter tipple got its start at the Foynes Airport in the midwest of Ireland in 1942, where a seaplane on its way from New York to Rome ran into engine trouble and landed. A chef at the airport, Joe Sheridan, whipped up a hot drink of coffee, cream, Irish whiskey and sugar. One passenger, a San Francisco newspaper writer named Stanton Delaplane, became obsessed with this "Gaelic coffee," and his passion eventually led to the drink’s recreation at the Buena Vista Cafe a decade later.
"The Buena Vista started serving Irish Coffees in 1952 and now makes an average of 2,000 Irish Coffees a day," explains Tim Herlihy, co-founder of Lost Irish (an Irish whiskey that’s made from casks sourced from six continents and triple distilled using all three whiskey production styles.) and co-author of From Barley to Blarney: A Whiskey Lover’s Guide to Ireland with NYC’s heralded team at the Irish pub The Dead Rabbit. "It’s become an icon for Ireland’s favorite cocktail."