Last week we wrote about the Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Foynes in County Limerick. We mentioned several ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’ for which Foynes Port and Shannon Airport across the estuary are famous. World’s first commercial transatlantic flight landed in Foynes, which is now home to world’s only Boeing 314 flying boat replica. Shannon opened world’s first duty free airport shop and has the longest runway in Ireland. There is one more ‘first’ tied to the flying boats that is close to our heart. And that is the invention of Irish coffee.
An Irish Coffee Makes The Day Better And Brighter
Proudly touted as one of the world’s most favourite drinks, the delicious, first ever, Irish coffee was poured in Foynes. The story of its invention is quite charming. As a base for transatlantic flights at the time, Foynes Port was an important stop for the planes and also for the passengers. Due to the often unpredictable West of Ireland weather, passengers would sometime need to stay and wait out the night before their connecting flight to Europe or to the US. In 1943, restaurateur Brendan O’Regan saw an opportunity and opened a new establishment in the terminal building to cater for those passengers waiting for their connection. This restaurant and coffeeshop soon became known as one of the best eateries in Ireland.
One winter evening, a flight headed for New York had to turn back to Foynes due to bad weather over the Atlantic. The restaurant staff were called back in and set to prepare refreshments for the wet and weary (and perhaps a little shaken) passengers after they disembarked. Chef Joe Sheridan, who was running the newly opened restaurant, decided to create something special for them. The legend goes that once everyone tasted his ingenious, delectable concoction, silence descended on the room. One of the pleasantly surprised American travellers asked Chef Sheridan whether this was a Brazilian coffee. ‘No, that’s Irish coffee.’ was Joe’s answer and that is how the fabled drink was born.
Today, you can book an Irish Coffee masterclass in its birthplace, the O’Regan’s Cafe in Foynes.
Irish Coffee In Buena Vista, San Francisco
The drink became a renowned specialty of Chef Sheridan and the Foynes airport. In 1952, barman at the Buena Vista Hotel, Jack Koeppler, learnt about the recipe. One of his regulars, San Francisco Chronicle travel writer Stanton Delaplane, brought it to Jack’s attention and asked him to copy it. Only four ingredients – brown sugar, whiskey, coffee and cream – so it should be easy enough, no?
Unfortunately, Buena Vista’s bartender ran into a problem. His cream kept sinking instead of staying on top of the mixture of whiskey and coffee. Perplexed, he travelled to Foynes to meet Joe Sheridan and to learn his secret. Which is: pouring lightly whipped cream over the back of a spoon to keep it floating.
Soon after, the Buena Vista offered a position to Chef Sheridan, who took it up and emigrated to the US. We travelled around California in 2011 and had fabulous few days in San Francisco. We indeed visited the legendary bar and café and had an Irish coffee in honour of Joe. It was super delicious. And what happened to Joe Sheridan? He lived out his life in San Francisco where he passed away in 1962. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery just outside the city.
Step By Step Of Making A Real Irish Coffee
There are of course many variations of the recipe. To make a delicious Irish coffee, you need only four ingredients: brown sugar, whiskey, black coffee, cream. That’s it. Fancy versions may include decorations such as orange or lemon zest, nutmeg, whole coffee beans or cinnamon. My husband makes a cracking Irish coffee, actually, and he adds no frills, just the four main actors. There is genius in simplicity.
As its name suggests, Irish whiskey is obviously essential to the taste of the drink. Choose whichever of the plethora of Irish whiskeys you personally like. In this household, we are partial to Jameson for ‘everyday’ use. We keep the more precious bottles for neat or on the rocks consumption.
For the coffee, I use my favourite everyday brand, Kenco Westminster Medium Roast. I would not be buying anything special. I like this one because it is not too strong (I am not a fan of super strong roasts) and tastes fruity and chocolatey, at least to my palette. Brown sugar is definitely better than white sugar. I actually like my Irish coffee without any sugar at all, but that would not be the real, traditional, way. And you need heavy Irish cream. This is not the time to be scrimping on the fat content.
Directions:
- Prepare black coffee of your choice – espresso or French press or drip, etc.
- Pour boiling water into your coffee glass to warm it up and after 5-10 seconds, pour the water out.
- Add one teaspoon of brown sugar into the warm glass.
- Pour a good measure of Irish whiskey into the glass.
- Pour the coffee into the glass, fill it within half an inch of the top.
- Stir well until the sugar dissolves.
- Shake the cream in its container (or lightly whip in another way). Using the spoon, slowly pour over the spoon’s back – the cream should stay afloat on top of the hot coffee.
That’s it! Enjoy. Slainte.