photo by jrodmanjr via flikr.com
Gee, wasn’t it just Chocolate Milk Day? Anyway, September 29th is this year’s National Coffee day, and to mark the occasion, we’re going to go over the respective “ethnic” coffee cocktails that have floated around over the years:
Irish Coffee
The one, the only, the penultimate. Just like barbecue and Bloody Marys, everyone seems to have their own adulterated “definitive” version of this much-maligned drink, but I’m not going to go there. Bottom-line: The Irish Coffee is best enjoyed in its original, simplistic form that has survived since it was first created at Foynes field in Ireland and eventually landed at the Buena Vista in California. Please for your own sake and ours, resist the urge to add all sorts of creme-de-menthe-irish-cream-lucky-charms-gak-nastiness to this beautiful recipe.
Take a look as Dale DeGroff creates the drink and relates its history on an St. Paddy’s Day 2009 episode of the Rachel Maddow Show:
The Recipe:
- 1 1/2oz Irish Whiskey
- 4 oz Fresh-brewed Coffee
- 1 oz simple syrup (Dale DeGroff also suggests Brown Sugar syrup)
- Unsweetened Heavy Cream, freshly whipped.
Glass: Irish Coffee
Garnish: None
Build in Irish Coffee glass, float whipped cream on top.
American Coffee #3:
adapted from a recipe by Gaz Regan
- 1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey
- 1 oz Hiram Walker Original Cinn Cinnamon Schnapps
- 4-5oz (depending on glass size) hot coffee
- Fresh whipped cream
Glass: Irish Coffee
Garnish: None
Build in Irish Coffee glass, float whipped cream on top.
Rudesheim Coffee:
photo from Asbach.de
My wife and I were introduced to this German cousin of the Irish Coffee a few years ago while enjoying dinner with my father-in-law’s friends Bernie and Bergit in the mountains of West Virginia. Originating as an official recipe from Asbach Uralt, it can become quite the pyrotechnic show:
Asbach’s original recipe:
- Place three sugar cubes in the original Rüdesheim coffee cup, add 4 cl of well- warmed Asbach Uralt and set alight with a long match.
- Stir using the long Rüdesheim coffee spoon to dissolve the sugar and allow to burn for about 1 minute. Fill the cup with hot coffee to about 2 cm under the rim.
- Top with whipped cream sweetened with vanilla sugar and sprinkle with dark chocolate flakes.
- Suggestion: heat the Asbach Uralt either in a container suitable for microwaving at 600W for one minute, or simply in a casserole.
Café Brasileiro
adapted from the original recipe by John Gakuru
- 1 1/2 oz Sagatiba Pura Cachaca
- 1/2 oz dark chocolate liqueur
- 2 1/2 oz fresh hot coffee
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 2 oz heavy cream*
- seeds from one vanilla pod*
- * to make 2 oz vanilla cream for floating
- To make vanilla cream:
- Scrape the seeds from a vanilla pod into a cocktail shaker.
- Add heavy cream and shake vigorously for 20 seconds.
- Stir all other ingredients together in an Irish coffee glass.
- Slowly and gently layer the vanilla cream onto the surface of the drink.
