From Dublin to the Marshall Islands: The History Of Irish Coffee

The history of Irish coffee involves a chef, a travel writer, and a journey around the world - but you can easily make it at home.

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The history of Irish coffee always starts with a story about "good, strong coffee".

An oral history of Irish coffee usually begins in Foynes, a small community in western Ireland. But in actuality, the legend of this popular cocktail wraps around the world, from Dublin to the Marshall Islands. And a travel writer plays a starring role! 

This boozy, creamy drink first gained popularity after it was served by Irish chef Joe Sheridan at Foynes Airbase, likely in 1943. It was offered up as a bracing concoction for passengers whose flight was forced to turn back due to poor winter weather and they promptly fell in love with the combination of coffee, whiskey, sugar, and cream. However, it was travel writer Stanton Delaplane who popularized it in 1952 when he brought the recipe home to San Francisco. 

(Let's all take a moment to appreciate how fitting it is that someone whose last name is "Delaplane" choose a career as a travel writer. Marvelous.)

Stan convinced his friend Jack Koeppler, owner of San Francisco's Buena Vista cafe, that the drink would be a hit. Or, depending on who you believe, Jack approached Stan and tasked him with the job of recreating the Irish drink that was slowly getting a word-of-mouth reputation. According to official lore, since they couldn't figure out how to to properly add the cream, they offered Joe Sheridan a job and the chef immigrated to San Francisco in 1952. Problem solved!

Alas, there may be more to the story. In a Time Magazine interview with Joe in 1955, he stated that he immigrated through Canada and Hawaii before settling in San Francisco by coincidence, where he found work in an all night dinner called Tiny's Waffle Shop (now closed). Like many travel legends, it seems like this story has some tall tales.

How to make the perfect Irish coffee at home

If you order an Irish coffee at Buena Vista, this is what you'll get.

Irish coffee is best enjoyed in Foynes or to San Francisco... or really anywhere you are in the world. However, making Irish coffee at home is fairly simple. As Joe Sheridan himself reportedly said, the recipe is a simple combination of:

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

If you prefer more precise instructions, according to the International Bartenders Association, the standard formula for Irish coffee is:

2 parts Irish whiskey
4 parts hot coffee
1.5 parts fresh cream
1 tsp of brown sugar

Another common ratio I see on recipe and bartending sites is:

1 1/2 ounces of Irish whiskey
4 ounces of hot coffee
2 sugar cubes
...And as much cream as you want! 1 ounce seems standard.

Clearly, there is a bit of flexibility depending on your own personal tastes. 

Perfecting your Irish coffee technique

The cream shouldn't melt in like this!

To get the drink just right, skip the temptation to use a large glass. Small portions keep the drink in balance and the beverage hot. Rinse your glass with hot water to bring the mug up to temperature. Then add the sugar, followed by the whiskey, and finally the coffee. 

While you want to gently stir the coffee, sugar, and whiskey together, the cream is never mixed with the other ingredients. By floating the cream on the top, you essentially drink the sweetened hot beverage through the thick, cooling cream and each mouthful is the perfect temperature and texture.

It's this floating technique that stumped Jack and Stan all those years ago. You want to whip heavy cream (35% fat) until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon but not so stiff that it stands up in peaks. Slide the thickened cream over the back of a teaspoon and let it gently pool on the top of the coffee. And if you really want to get the technique just right, you'll use gently whipped cream that has been aged about 48 hours. Freshly whipped cream doesn't float as well.

So what kind of coffee goes best with Irish coffee?

Ask anyone in Ireland and they'll tell you to use "good, strong coffee". But if you press on and ask if that means a light or dark roast, beans from Hawaii or Bali, you'll be met with blank looks of confusion. But I have a theory on what kind of coffee is best.

The history of Irish coffee says that one of the grateful passengers who was first served the hot drink on that fateful day in 1943 thanked the chef. He then asked if the delicious drink was Brazilian coffee. The cheeky reply, of course, was that it was Irish coffee! So to honour this little exchange, if you have a choice of coffee beans, make your Irish coffee with some Brazilian flare.

Visiting Irish coffee travel sites

You can enjoy a mix of Irish coffee and travel simply by showing up at any airport lounge. Or you can visit a Spanish bar, where a layered version of Irish coffee is often sold. Alternatively, drop into any backpacker's bar in Southeast Asia, where the local interpretation of Irish coffee is an iced concoction served without cream. But if you're a true devotee of Irish coffee, you might want to add the following sites to your travel list:

Foynes Floating Boat and Maritime Museum

Located just outside Limerick in western Ireland, Foynes isn't just the birthplace of Irish coffee. It was also home to one of the most important airports in the world in the 1940s. Today, this small museum dedicated to aviation and maritime history is the perfect place to try an Irish coffee.

Shannon Air Museum

It's not really must-see spot for Irish coffee but a visit to the Shannon Air Museum will help you appreciate the role of Limerick and western Ireland in transatlantic transportation.

Tullamore Distillery

Tullamore is the Buena Vista's whiskey of choice for their Irish coffee. In fact, they're the largest purchasers of this particular whiskey in the world. With a new visitor center opening soon, the Tullamore distillery is the perfect place for Irish whiskey fans to learn more about the craft behind their favourite drink.

Bad Bob's pub

There is credible evidence to suggest that Joe Sheridan didn't so much invent Irish coffee as he perfected and popularized it. During Joe's early culinary career, he worked in the former Dolphin Hotel in Dublin, which is now the site of Bad Bob's pub. The proprietor that Joe worked with was already serving up a concoction of coffee, whiskey, and sugar - and using thick, rich cream to compensate for the poor quality of war-time coffee. As no trip to Ireland is complete without a visit to Dublin, pop over to Bad Bob's to check it out for yourself.

The Buena Vista

The San Francisco cafe that started the craze is still going strong. The Buena Vista is a popular spot, especially for brunch and lunch but the real draw are the bartenders who can make a dozen Irish coffees without even really looking at what they are doing.

Peerless Coffee

The Buena Vista uses organic beans from Peerless Coffee. San Francisco has a great coffee scene and this is a good place to start discovering local coffee and tea blends.

Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands

The cheerful story of Joe Sheridan, the Foynes airfield, and Irish coffee has a sad conclusion. Joe was a relatively young man when he died in the Marshall Islands at age 53 while working as a ship's chef in 1962. 

It's unfortunate that Joe's legacy gets reduced to little more than a caricature. The truth was that he was courageous. In 1955, Joe was quoted as saying "Whisky and me, 'tis the sad truth, do not get along, whether it be in coffee or not."​ He left his home to make a better life, willing to turn away from further fame and fortune in order to come to terms with his relationship with alcohol, not afraid of hard work in humble environments. 

It wasn't Irish coffee that took Joe from rural Ireland to Canada, the United States, and the Pacific islands. It was Joe himself, his determination and gumption, and that should inspire all of us to explore further. 

If you're in Oakland, California, you can pay tribute to Joe at his final resting spot, St Mary's Cemetery.

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