Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Wake Up!

Happy Friday! I hope you’re all enjoying the Rugby World Cup currently going on. As much fun as the games are, the unfortunate reality is that due to the host country being Japan, the games over here are at very rough hours. Fortunately, I was able to catch the USA Eagles match vs. England on Thursday morning. Let’s see how we did:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StV4G_ckPQI]

Yikes. Though at least we weren’t shut out. England is #3 in the world after all. Either way, after that shellacking I think we all need a drink. Luckily, I know just the right cocktail for this occasion: Irish coffee!

Irish coffee is an underrated, but yet versatile drink. It’s perfect for the morning, and also as a dessert beverage as well. This also might be the easiest to make drink I’ve ever featured here.

Irish Coffee

Black coffee

1.5 to 2 oz Irish whiskey

Sugar (optional)

Brew a pot of coffee and pour into a tall stemmed Irish coffee mug, about 3/4 of the way. Add the whiskey and stir. Top with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Man, I haven’t had an Irish coffee in a long time. This is good and strong. Either Irish creme liqueur (Baileys etc) or Irish whiskey play here, and as I had a nip of Jameson leftover from an adult Easter Egg hunt, I thought it was a perfect amount  flavor to let you know you’re having a drink

The reason I listed the sugar as optional is that I believe the whipped cream adds enough sweetness that any more would be overloading. But then again I drink my coffee black, so you do you.

The biggest x factor here is the coffee by far. An overly sweet french vanilla flavored coffee may play well, but also runs the risk of becoming overly sweet, as mentioned above. In my opinion, a French ROAST would be better, as that style is bolder and stronger.  That way you get a nice balance from the cream, and the booziness doesn’t overpower. You’re not drinking this to get wasted after all. it’s a good kickoff to a day devoted to drinking. The heat of the coffee however will start breaking down the whipped cream, eventually, so it will start to separate as it melts. There’s no real downside to the melted cream, but sipping the coffee through the whipped cream floating on top does enhance the flavor, as the whipped cream is an integral part of the drink.

This is one that I for sure will be coming back to in this space, as this is a perfect opportunity to explore different variations of this drink, as was suggested in the comments last week.

This is a perfect drink to kickoff some day drinking. You know what they say, you can’t drink all day unless you start in the morning.

(Banner image found here)