Cocktail Culture: 2 Recipes to Celebrate National Irish Coffee Day

Do we really need National Irish Coffee Day? Um... yes.

The Irish coffee has long been revered as the quintessential winter drink for its decadence and warmth and continues today to be a favorite digestif and warmer-upper during the brisk winter evenings.

To celebrate National Irish Coffee day this year, connoisseurs and novices alike can sip on these well crafted versions with this two recipes, which pay homage to the original creator Joe Sheridan.

The OTT (over the top) Irish Coffee
Recipe by Joaqu�n Sim�

1.5 oz Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey
.25 oz rich (2:1) Demerara syrup
5 oz hot Coffee
5 drops Saline Solution (or a tiny pinch kosher salt)
3 cardamom pods

For the cream:
5-6 oz Heavy cream
2 tbsp white sugar
Zest from 1 orange
2 Dashes Regan's No 6 Orange bitters

Glass: Stemmed Irish Coffee glass
Garnish: Lightly toasted Little Boo Boo Bakery Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey Marshmallow
Method: Muddle the cardamom pods in the bottom of a pre-heated Irish coffee glass, add whiskey, Demerara syrup, hot coffee and saline solution and stir. Whip the cream with the orange zest, white sugar and Regan's No. 6 Orange bitters until thickened, but still pourable. Float cream over the top of the drink by pouring gently over the back of a spoon.

"Irish coffee is lovely year round (as the fine barkeeps at the Buena Vista will readily attest), but it is particularly satisfying when there is a chill in the air. My favorite wintertime attire is a whiskey sweater -- that delicious warming glow that keeps me feeling toasty even when a bitter wind nips at my cheeks. A properly made Irish Coffee keeps that cable-knit coziness intact while the caffeinated boost of hot coffee offers a delicious contrast to the cold lightly whipped cream floating atop." - Joaqu�n Sim�

Dead Rabbit Irish Coffee
Recipe by Dale DeGroff

1.5 oz Clontarf Irish Whiskey
4 oz Hot Birch Caro De Minas coffee
.5 oz Demerara syrup
Hand whipped cream

Method: Add all ingredients except the cream to a stemmed glass and stir. Hand whip the cream so that it still pours and floats on top of the coffee.
*Never sweeten the cream

"I'm Italian mostly but I've enjoyed the luck of the Irish at exactly the moments I most needed it. One of those moment was stepping behind the bar in 1975 at Charley O's Bar and Grill in N.Y.C. Joe Baum, a master of the details that make greatness in the hospitality business, opened Charley O's in Rockefeller Center in the early 1960's. Senator Patrick Moynihan chose Charley O's as the venue for his St. Patrick's Day breakfast and that tradition continued for two decades joined by crowds of resellers. At the centre of that celebration was Charley O's Irish Coffee, the third best in the world after Joe Sheridan's revival of the drink in San Francisco at the world famous Buena Vista Caf�. With this recipe I am evoking the spirit of Joe's greatness at the Dead Rabbit where from this day forward you will find the world's best Irish coffee." - Dale DeGroff