Irish Coffee
Also caife Gaelach
Hot coffee, Irish whiskey and sugar under a float of cream, drunk through the cream. The most widely known alcoholic coffee.
With spiritsServed hotFrom Ireland
- Volume
- 200ml6.8 US fl oz
- Espresso
- 0shots
- Caffeine
- 48mgderived, USDA FDC
- Coffee to milk
- 1:0.3
The build
Watch it made, step by step- Hot strong coffee120 ml60%
- Spirit40 ml20%
- Syrup10 ml5%
- Cream30 ml15%
- Volume
- 200ml
- Caffeine
- 48mg
- Espresso
- 0shots
Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.
Hot sweetened coffee and whiskey in a stemmed glass with cream floated on the surface so it is drunk through the cream.
Caffeine
Derivedin a 200 ml irish coffee
USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee volume in components, assuming 1 g per ml. FDC 171890 (Beverages, coffee, brewed, prepared with tap water) 40.0 mg/100 g x 120 ml.
USDA FoodData Central record 171890 · read 2026-10-26
A derived figure: the reference food's caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee in this build. Real cups vary with the coffee, the dose and the shot.
Variants by country
3| Name | Country | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Rüdesheimer Kaffee | Germany | Brandy version. |
| Pharisäer | Germany | Rum version. |
| carajillo | Spain | Spanish spirit coffee without cream. |
History
Popular accountWikidata classes it as an IBA official cocktail and a liqueur coffee. The story of Joe Sheridan serving it to stranded transatlantic passengers at Foynes in the 1940s is a popular account.
Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland.
Parts of this story are repeated widely but were not confirmed against a source this atlas accepts. They are kept as the story people tell, not as fact.
Related drinks
A flamed coffee cocktail: rum and triple sec set alight in a sugar-rimmed glass, then coffee liqueur, hot coffee and whipped cream.
With spirits Jamaican Coffee 225 ml · 65 mgHot coffee spiked with dark rum and coffee liqueur and topped with whipped cream.
With spirits Mexican Coffee 225 ml · 68 mgHot coffee with coffee liqueur and often tequila under a cap of whipped cream; a bar drink, not a Mexican café tradition.
With spirits Irish Cream Coffee 210 ml · 60 mgHot coffee made sweet and creamy with Irish cream liqueur, a simpler cousin of Irish coffee.
With spirits Karsk 190 ml · 48 mgNorway's coffee with moonshine, measured by whether you can see a coin at the bottom of the cup. A rural Trøndelag tradition.
With spirits Pharisäer 230 ml · 60 mgNorth Frisia's rum-laced coffee under a cream lid, drunk unstirred so the cream hides the spirit. Named for a pastor's reproach.