Classic Cocktails: Irish Coffee Recipe

So what’s up with today’s youth that they have to go and completely bastardize the classic cocktails?  I might give the classics a new twist, but I don’t take them and bash them into submission then strain out their chemical components…jack them up to sky high percentages then make them taste like Kool-Aid, stuff ‘em in a can and wait for the cash to roll in.  (Hmmmm….maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong.)  Don’t have a friggin’ clue what I’m rambling on about?  Two words: Four Loko.  Apparently college kids have been guzzling the stuff and ending up in the hospital because their bodies are a wee bit confused whether they should be loose and relaxed (due to the high alcohol content) or amped up and ready to take on the world (due to the high caffeine content).  So the FDA is stepping in and putting a ban on putting this combo in a can (or bottle) to thwart future entrepreneurs.

But what about that classic combo of caffeine and alcohol called the Irish coffee?  That, my friends, is still available…because you can make your own (as strong or weak as you like).  As you can infer from the name, the original Irish coffee came from Ireland.  The story is that a bunch of American passengers arrived in what is now known as Shannon International Airport. on a cold winter evening.  The head chef added whiskey to the passengers coffee to help warm them.  When asked if they were being served Brazilian coffee, the chef responded with “no, it’s Irish coffee.”

Of course, the American originator of the Irish coffee recipe is a bit of an argument between two bar/restauranteurs in California.  I’m a lot biased, in that I’ve spent many hours at the place, but I believe that the winner of this dispute is The Buena Vista in San Francisco.  The two men who concocted the Irish coffee recipe are men after my own heart.  One of the men, a travel writer who had tasted the original Irish coffee recipe in Ireland, came back to the bars owner and the two of them mixed and sipped variations to find an acceptable Irish coffee facsimile deemed to taste as good as the original.  Apparently this tasting and mixing went on for hours at a time and had more than one occurrence of passing out – that’s true commitment. (If you’re ever up in San Francisco, I highly recommend that you stop by the Buena Vista and watch these master Irish coffee makers at work.)

Thankfully, we don’t need to do all of the experimenting, we can just dive right in to the warm and tingly Irish whiskey tinged coffee with a thick and frothy collar of heavy cream that smooths everything out.

Speaking of hot and steamy…I haven’t talked about sex here for a while.  Since it’s getting close to the holidays, and many of you will probably have a house full of family occupying your once private dwelling (or you’ll be staying in your old room at your parents house which is still painted pink and has your old My Pretty Pony and ‘Hang in There’ kitty posters on the wall – not exactly sexually arousing surroundings) it’s time to get busy.   And by busy I mean having a few sexy romps to help get you through the next few weeks.

Definitely take advantage of down time to play with each other a bit.  Those opportunities are few and far between during the holidays.

Or how about having a little sexy time in a risky place?  Maybe in the backseat of your car before going into the family gathering (make sure you move the food you brought first).

If staying at someone’s house for an extended period gets to be just a little too much, why not book a night at a nearby hotel?  It will give everyone a break from one another and allow the two of you to get a little freaky and blow off some of that pent up angst.  By the next day, everyone will be even tempered and ready to tackle the day.

So a toast to you: Here’s to surviving the holidays!

Tags: buena vista, classic cocktails, irish coffee, irish coffee recipe, Relationship Advice, the buena vista