DUBLINS FINEST IRISH COFFEE BAR
HOME TO IRELAND’S MOST DIVERSE RANGE OF IRISH COFFEE’S - VICE IS THE PLACE TO VISIT TO SAMPLE SOME OF THE BEST IRISH COFFEES THAT THE CITY HAS TO OFFER.
WE SERVE 3 TYPES OF IRISH COFFEE AT VICE.
THE “PLAIN JANE” MADE WITH ESPRESSO & KILBEGGAN WHISKEY
THE “LUXURIOUS LINDA” MADE WITH COLD BREW, TEELING STOUT CASK & POITIN
OUR AWARD WINNING IRISH COFFEE THE “FANCY FRANKIE” FEATURING TEELING SMALL BATCH & ESPRESSO.
THE HISTORY OF THE IRISH COFFEE………
The Irish Coffee was created in the winter of 1943 by Joe Sheridan, head chef at Foynes airbase near Limerick, in the South West of Ireland. Foynes was an airbase for transatlantic flights at the time that often carried political or Hollywood figures. The airbase was usually just a stop over for longer flights to refuel and often due to bad weather conditions, passengers would need to stay for the night and a new restaurant was created to cater for these passengers.
One evening, a flight had to turn back to Foynes Airbase after hitting some bad weather over the Atlantic ocean. Chef Joe Sheridan who was working at the newly created restaurant, felt sorry for the delayed, wet and weary passengers decided to whip up something special for them to drink after they disembarked. The story goes that a silence descended as everyone enjoyed this delectable concoction.
According to legend, the name for the drink came about with the following exchange:
"Hey Buddy," said a surprised American passenger, "is this Brazilian coffee?" "No," said Joe, "that's Irish Coffee."
The Irish Coffee became a huge success and an airport specialty. In 1952 the Irish Coffee was introduced to the United States, by then travel writer, Stanton Delaplane who worked for the San Francisco Chronicle. He brought the receipe to the attention of Jack Koeppler, a bartender at the Buena Vista Hotel in San Francisco and persuaded him to recreate it.
Joe Sheridan serving Marilyn Monroe one of his famed creations - pic via the Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum
Unfortunately they had a problem. The cream kept sinking when Koeppler tried to recreate the drink, so he traveled straight to the source, Chef Joe Sheridan back in Limerick, to learn the correct way to make this famed coffee cocktail.
Joe Sheridan was offered a position at the Buena Vista and emigrated to the US to work for the legendary Bar & Cafe. He died 10 years later in 1962 and is buried in Oakland Cemetery just outside San Francisco.
This is the recipe offered by Joe Sheridan, to make an authentic Irish Coffee:
CREAM - RICH AS AN IRISH BROGUE
COFFEE - STRONG AS A FRIENDLY HAND
SUGAR - SWEET AS THE TONGUE OF A ROGUE
WHISKEY - SMOOTH AS THE WIT OF THE LAND
Joe Sheridan - the creator of the Irish Coffee - pic via the Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum
IRISH COFFEE IN RECENT TIMES
The Irish Coffee became a quintessential after-dinner drink in the US after becoming famous at the Buena Vista in San Francisco. Unfortunately there have been many poor interpretations of this classic over the years. Serving an Irish Coffee made with over-roasted coffee, inferior whiskey, the incorrect sweetener or UHT cream from a can is no longer acceptable. Thanks to the likes of the World Coffee in Good Spirits competition - we’ve seen baristas & mixologists think creatively when constructing their Irish Coffees.
The competition highlights the barista/barkeeper’s mixology skills in a setting where coffee and alcohol go perfectly together - from unique cocktail combinations to the traditional Irish Coffee. During the preliminary round, competitors produce four drinks – two identical hot/warm coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks, and two identical cold coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks. The six competitors with the highest scores compete in the final round. The final round requires competitors to produce two Irish Coffees and two coffee-and-alcohol-based designer drinks. The highest scoring final round competitor is be named the World Coffee in Good Spirits Champion. Recent winners have included Dan Fellows, Martin Hudak and Agnieszka Rojewska.
When 2 famed bartenders from Belfast (Jack McGarry & Sean Muldoon) opened the Dead Rabbit cocktail bar in New York in 2013 - their Irish Coffee became one of their signature drinks. The bar has gone on to become one of the most accoladed cocktail bars in the world - putting Ireland & Irish Coffees back well and truly into the spotlight.
The Dead Rabbit cocktail bar - New York - putting Irish Coffees back into the spotlight
FOR OUR IRISH COFFEES - WE’VE updated THE TRADITIONAL RECIPE USING ONLY THE FINEST INGREDIENTS & TECHNIQUES.
THIS IS THE RECIPE FOR OUR AWARD WINNING “FANCY FRANKIE” IRISH COFFEE.
Rinse a 6.5oz coupe glass with boiling water
Rub the rim of the glass with some orange zest
Add 36ml Espresso (dbl espresso)
Add 30ml Teeling Small Batch
Add 15ml BSS (Brown Sugar Syrup - 1 part demerrara sugar : 1 part boiling water)
Add 50ml Hot Water
Shake Cream to thicken in a carton / shaker & pour over the back of a spoon
Finally finish with some grated Nutmeg
Coffee is a feature ingredient in an Irish Coffee and we rotate between different espresso throughout the year as coffee is a seasonal product. Sometimes we’ll use a single origin, sometimes a blend - but we always try to use an espresso that has a dominant caramel / toffee sweetness - with some clean acidity to finish. Commonly you’ll see us use the Red Brick blend from Squaremile or Unit 14 from Roundhill in our Irish Coffees.
Whiskey is obviously instrumental in making a great tasting drink so we choose Teeling Small Batch - it consists of hand selected casks of grain and malt whiskey, initially aged in ex-bourbon casks for up to 6 years, and then married together for more than 6 months in ex-rum casks, imparting a unique dried fruit & citrus profile.