Skip to main content

Cozy up against the cold with these recipes for National Irish Coffee Day

Celebrate the ever-popular combination of whiskey, coffee, and cream

By Georgina Torbet Published January 25, 2025

Keeper’s Heart

The Irish Coffee is a beloved favorite drink for many, especially when it’s cold outside. The combination of hot coffee, rich cream, and boozy whiskey is comforting, tasty, and has just the right combination of picking you up and soothing you down to make it the perfect winter drink. As today is National Irish Coffee Day, we’ve got a couple of recipes for you to try out.

Virtually all Irish Coffee recipes will keep the same basic ingredients, and of course it’s traditional to use an Irish whiskey for your Irish Coffee. But you can also try out some subtle but effective variations on the classic recipe, such as using demerara syrup or maple syrup for sweetening, which give a depth of molasses flavor, or adding some spices like nutmeg.

Recommended Videos

Keeper’s Irish Coffee

Keeper’s Heart

Ingredients:

1 oz Keeper’s Heart Irish + American
1/2 oz Local maple syrup
8 oz Fresh hot coffee
8 oz Lightly whipped cream
1 dash of Nutmeg

Method:

Warm mug with hot water for at least 20 seconds, then discard water. Add all ingredients, except cream, and stir briefly. Gently layer whipped cream over top. Grate nutmeg over top. *Lightly whipped cream: In a blender bottle, add 8 oz heavy cream and 1 tsp granulated sugar. Shake for 60 seconds.

Irish Coffee

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Ingredients:

35 ml The Busker Single Pot Still
20 ml Demerara Syrup (2:1)
120 ml Hot Coffee
Heavy Cream (lightly whipped)

Method:

In a heated glass, combine Busker Single Pot Still Whiskey, Demerara Syrup, and Hot Coffee. Stir to combine and dissolve the syrup.Gently float lightly whipped cream on top by pouring it over the back of a spoon. Do not stir. Enjoy through the cream.

Georgina Torbet

Former Space Writer

Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…

Food & Drink

The smoothest bourbons for fans new to the whiskey style

Let's take a deep dive into "smooth" bourbons

Buffalo Trace

In some whiskey circles, the word “smooth” is considered to be a bad term to describe bourbon. That’s because it’s thought to be a little too vague and doesn’t really describe the spirit at all. Obviously, its simplicity doesn’t do the whiskey style justice.

But if you ask me, there’s no better, simpler way to describe America’s “native spirit” if you’re a beginner. There are a variety of reasons why bourbon is referred to as “smooth,” and I’m not here to shame drinkers if they want to use the phrase. Especially novice drinkers who are just learning the terminology. That said, if you’re new to whiskey, there are countless smooth, gateway bourbons perfectly crafted to get you started on your corn-based journey.

Food & Drink

These new Maker’s Mark city bottles are worth a layover

Maker's Mark's new limited-edition bottles celebrate eleven cities around the world — but they're sold only in airports.

Alcohol, Beverage, Liquor

Pretty much everyone can spot a Maker's Mark bottle across the bar. The squat shape, the red wax bleeding down the neck — you don't need to read the label.

That's why it's actually worth checking out their Artist Series, where the City Edition puts artist Alexandra Pacula's work on eleven bottles for a slew of cities: New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, and Melbourne. Seem cool? There's a catch — it's airports only.

Food & Drink

Nikka brings back a beloved 10-year single malt for the first time in a decade

Miyagikyo Single Malt 10 Years Old is the first age-statement release from the distillery since Japanese whisky's aged-stock crunch hit in 2015.

Whisky, bottle, label

Nikka Whisky is one of the most exciting names in Japanese whisky, so when they make a big announcement, it's almost always worth taking an interest. That's especially the case with the release of Miyagikyo Single Malt 10 Years Old, the flagship expression from its Miyagikyo Distillery — the fruit-forward, mountain-set second distillery Nikka built near Sendai, Japan, in 1969.

This release is the first age-statement Miyagikyo since 2015, and it follows the 2022 return of Yoichi Single Malt 10 Years Old, its coastal sibling. Bottled at 45% ABV, the 700ml release has a $174.99 price tag, so it's not exactly an impulse purchase — and with just 1,572 bottles available nationwide, tracking down a pour may be tough in the first place.