Irish Coffee Martini

All right folks…let’s get this party started! Let the countdown to St. Patrick’s Day 2023 begin! And what better way to kick things off than with this caffeinated, boozy delight of a cocktail – the Irish Coffee Martini!

This boozy libation with an added kick of caffeine is easy to make. Just throw some cold brew coffee, quality Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream Liqueur with a bit of simple syrup and ice into a shaker and well…give it a good shaking! Voila! You’ve turned your favorite hot beverage into a irresistible adult coffee cooler!

Now while we are at it – I do have some suggestions for which quality Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream you use. These are new discoveries for me from our most recent trip to Ireland in October 2022 and I am absolutely wild about both of them!

Before this most recent trip in October, we had not visited Ireland since 2012. So we were long overdue! Our first stop after flying into Dublin and renting a car was the gorgeous town of Trim in County Meath. This charming town, situated on the River Boyne, is one of the best preserved medieval towns and is only a 40 minute drive from Dublin airport. Great place to shake off your jet lag after an overnight flight from the States. The town dates back to the 5th Century. In fact, St. Patrick is said to have founded a monastery there. It was taken over by the English in the 12th Century. That is when Hugh de Lacy began work on Trim Castle, which is the largest Norman Castle in Ireland. We were delighted to have stayed at the lovely Trim Castle Hotel in one of their plush Heritage Rooms. Our room boasted a balcony which looked out on the Castle.

Although Trim may be smaller in population, it certainly does not lack in things to do, like touring the above mentioned castle and strolling along their river walk. A great base for touring Meath it is very close to all the Bru na Boinne valley has to offer (more on that in a later post) and has plenty of restaurants and bars to ease your transatlantic recovery.

1st Pint, but not to be the last by any means, of the trip!

But let me get back to those Irish Whiskey and Irish Cream recommendations. The Husband and I have a handful of godchildren in Ireland and I have them to thank for introducing us to these delightful tipples. I strongly recommend that you get ahold of some West Cork Irish Whiskey as well as some Five Farms Irish Cream. They were my go to’s for this Martini and you will see them again in other recipes to come this year. Both of these products hail from County Cork which is the largest and southernmost county in Ireland. This county has it all from lush fields of green, to mountains to rugged coastlines. And the fiercely independent folk there have a reputation for challenging authority. Cork is often called the “Rebel County” or “The People’s Republic of Cork”

West Cork Distillers, who craft smooth triple distilled, non-chill filtered whiskey, have the largest wholly Irish owned distillery in the country. Situated in Skibbereen they source the best local ingredients to craft their products. I am using their Bourbon Cask matured whiskey here, but they also offer whiskey matured in various other casks. Five Farms single batch Irish Cream liqueur is also produced in beautiful County Cork in the southern portion where the land meet the sea. The fresh cream used in this rich smooth liqueur is sourced entirely from 5 family owned farms. It is combined with premium triple distilled whiskey. In fact, there is a greater amount of Irish Whiskey in this product than most other brands of Irish Cream. This results in a warm sweet creamy taste in which the complexity of the whiskey shines through. I know all you hear this time of year is Jamesons and Baileys, and they are very good. But maybe you should branch out a bit this year and try something new.

This Irish Coffee Martini is gonna give you just the right combination of caffeine jolt and boozy smooth and mellow. Guaranteed to be a hit at any St. Patrick’s Day festivity. What are ya waiting for? Get shaking!

• Servings: 1 martini
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

recipe slightly adapted from: Burrata and Bubbles

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon espresso powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 ounces cold-brew coffee
• 1 1/2 ounces West Cork Irish Whiskey
• 1 ounce Five Farms Irish Cream
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup*
• Ice
• Coffee bean or even better, chocolate covered coffee bean to garnish (optional, but very nice!)

Directions:

Chill your martini glasses by filling with ice and a small amount of water. Leave this in the glass while you are preparing the cocktail. Once you are ready to serve, pour the ice water mixture out and dry the glass.

Mix together the espresso powder and sugar on a small plate.

Run some simple syrup around the rim of your martini glass. Then, swirl in the espresso powder-sugar mixture. Set aside.

In a cocktail shaker, add the cold-brew coffee, West Cork Irish Whiskey, Five Farms Irish Cream, simple syrup and ice. Pop on the top and shake vigorously for about 15 to 30 seconds.

Strain into prepared martini glasses.

Enjoy!

*Feel free to use store bought or home made simple syrup. To make at home you simply (ha ha ha…) bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a high simmer on the stove in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture simmers and the sugar dissolves, remove from heat. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This can be done well in advance and will keep for several weeks. Easy peasy!

Links for Helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Irish Coffee Martini:

Espresso Powder

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

Drizly – Not sure if this will work for you as all states liquor laws are different, but if it does work in your state, Drizly will deliver alcohol right to your door! It is worth checking out.

Travel Planning Guide:

Getting there: Icelandair! We love Icelandair and have always had great experience with them. Icelandair flies to Dublin, Ireland. Take advantage of their Stopover program on your next flight to Europe.

Car Rental: New Way Car Hire – Love the all-inclusive pricing on these cars as well as the Dublin Airport pickup!

Trim, Ireland

Accommodation: Trim Castle Hotel – Contemporary Luxury Accommodation in the heart of Ancient Ireland! This fantastic, family owned hotel boast 68 relaxing modern rooms. We stayed in their Heritage Room which offered a spectacular view of Trim Castle. This hotel has a very comfortable atmosphere and has a cafe, bar and restaurant on site. It offers parking as well, but if you’d rather not rent a car but wish to get out of Dublin, the hotel offers transfer to and from Dublin Airport. We can’t wait to visit again!

Pubs & Restaurants:

Sally Roger’s Pub: Friendly folks and great atmosphere! Besides the cozy interior, this pub also has a large outside balcony over the River Boyne with a great view of the old bridge. This bridge was built in 1393 and is one of the country’s oldest complete and unaltered working bridges.

Wau Asian Cuisine: I know you might be thinking, why are you eating Chinese in Ireland? Well we knew there would be plenty of amazing Irish dishes to come in this trip and sometimes you are just craving Chinese, no matter where you might be! So this is where we landed and we are so glad we did! Located right above Sally Roger Pub, we got take-away from Wau Asian which was really delicious! Their tasty tofu is homemade. I highly recommend a tofu dish. And if you want to add a bit of “Irishness’ to your dinner, get chips to go with your main dish instead of the usual rice! Yup…it’s a thing.

Irish Coffee Cupcakes

Oh my gawd! It’s here, it’s here!! Today is St. Patrick’s Day!!! And as per usual, my last post of my St. Patrick’s Day blog-a-thon features cupcakes. And today I’ve got not just any old cupcake…no siree! What I’ve got here are Irish Coffee Cupcakes. Can’t get much more St. Patrick’s Day than that!

So obviously, I’m giving you that classic Irish cocktail in cupcake form. It is surprising that the Irish Coffee is fairly young when one considers coffee cocktails. It was invented in 1943. Way back in 19th century France,  folks were already quaffing “Glorias” which were a mixture of “coffee & strong spirits”. And Viennese Coffee Houses had been serving Pharisäers, sweetened coffee, rum & whipped cream, for quite some time at that point. So fast forward to 1943, Joe Sheridan was the chef at Foynes Port in Limerick when he invented this warming drink and served it to a gaggle of cold and wet tourists. Eventually Stanton Delaplane, an american travel writer, encountered the drink at Shannon airport and brought it back to the US, writing about it extensively. And what do you know, it caught on. Folks loved it then, and still love it now.

The classic Irish Coffee consists of hot coffee, Irish Whiskey and sugar and is topped with thick cream which is floated on top of the coffee/whiskey mixture. Soothing, warming and utterly decadent, you just can’t go wrong with this elixir. Serve it on a luxurious holiday morning or as a lovely nightcap – perfect every time. And these cupcakes…yeah, they’re worthy of their namesake.

Tender, moist coffee flavored chocolate cake – filled with a creamy dark and decadent whiskey chocolate ganache and then frosted with a light and airy Irish Whiskey Whipped Cream and topped with a chocolate covered espresso bean…

 

Dear Lawd! This is not only perfect on St. Patrick’s Day, but awesome year round. So what are you waiting for, you can have these ready for tonight’s shindig in two shakes of a lambs tail.

Now me, I’ve gotta get going…my blogging is done for a while. I’ve got some Patrick’s Day festivities to attend to. So see you in a week or so, Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daiobh (Happy St. Patrick’s Day)!

• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Recipe from: Wife in Progress

Ingredients:

For the Cakes:

• 3/4 cups Guinness
• 1/4 cup strong black coffee (or King Arthur Espresso Powder works well here)
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
• 1 Tablespoon Jameson Whiskey

For the Whipped Cream Topping:

• 1 small carton of whipping cream
• 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Irish Whiskey

Espresso powder (I used King Arthur Espresso Powder, but you could also use cocoa powder or even freshly ground nutmeg in a pinch) and chocolate covered espresso beans to garnish

Directions:

For the Cakes:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C)

Line 2 cupcake tins with liners.

In a large saucepan heat Guinness, coffee and butter together until it comes to a gentle simmer.

Add cocoa powder while whisking continuously to avoid lumps. Mix until smooth. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Place flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in bowl. Set aside

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs vanilla and sour cream.

Once the Guinness/cocoa mixture has cooled, add it to the egg/sour cream mixture. Mix until combined.

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, mixing on low speed until just combined.

Using an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup scoop, fill the lined cupcake tins.

Bake for 25 minutes

Cool completely on wire rack.

For the Whiskey Ganache:

Heat heavy cream until just shy of boiling.

Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Do not mix. Cover with lid and let sit for 5 minutes.

Stir the mixture starting from the inside and working to the edges. Add the whiskey and mix until incorporated

Let sit for 10 minutes or so at room temperature. The ganache should thicken a bit. You can pop it into the fridge for a bit to speed this process up.

For the Whipped Cream Frosting:

Pour cream and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk until Cream forms stiff peaks. Add Irish Whiskey to taste.

For Assembly: 

Once the cupcakes have cooled, cut out the center of each cake with an apple corer, knife or special cupcake corer tool, taking care not to cut all the way through the cake.

Place the whiskey ganache into a pastry bag and pipe into the cored cupcake to fill.

Spoon the whipped whiskey filling into a pastry bag and frost cupcakes.

Dust with espresso powder and top with chocolate covered bean.

Enjoy!

Irish Coffee Cupcakes brought to you by: Runcible Eats (www.leaandjay.com)

Links for helpful Kitchen Tools & Ingredients for Irish Coffee Cupcakes:

OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Food Scale

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Oxo Good Grips Ice Cream Scoop

Cuisipro Cupcake Corer or you can just use a plain Oxo Good Grips Apple Corer

Cuckoo Luckoo Gourmet Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans – This link is for a 1 pound box of these beans. To be honest, I got mine at my local Starbucks. They sell them in little 1/75 oz snack packs!

King Arthur Espresso Powder