Ireland

The smooth original: Irish whiskey is famous for triple distillation and an easy, honeyed charm that made it the world's best-selling whiskey a century ago — and it is roaring back. Ingredients: malted and unmalted barley (the unique single pot still style), wheat or other grains, water, yeast. Method: 1) Distill — traditionally three times through copper pot stills — for exceptional smoothness; Irish malt is dried in closed kilns, away from peat smoke. 2) Age at least three years in wooden casks in Ireland. 3) Serve neat, or with a splash of water. The experience: light, silky and welcoming — orchard fruit, vanilla, toasted wood and a soft spice finish. History: monks brought distillation to Ireland around a thousand years ago; Bushmills was licensed to distill in 1608, and by the 1800s Irish whiskey ruled the world before a hard century of decline — today its distilleries multiply again.

A hug in a glass: hot coffee and Irish whiskey under a collar of cold cream, invented on a freezing night to warm stranded travelers. Ingredients: hot strong coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar, lightly whipped heavy cream. Method: 1) Warm a stemmed glass with hot water, then add sugar and hot coffee and stir until dissolved. 2) Pour in the whiskey. 3) Float cold, barely-whipped cream over the back of a spoon so it sits on top — never stir; you drink the hot, whiskeyed coffee through the cold cream. The experience: warm and bracing below, cool and silky above — coffee, spirit and cream in every mouthful. History: chef Joe Sheridan created it in 1943 at Foynes, Ireland, for flying-boat passengers frozen by a stormy Atlantic crossing; in 1952 San Francisco's Buena Vista café made it world-famous.

Ireland's black gold: a dry stout of roasted barley and nitrogen bubbles, crowned with a dome of cream-white foam — Guinness is its global ambassador. Ingredients: water, malted barley, roasted unmalted barley (the source of its color and coffee-like bite), hops and yeast; draught stout is poured with nitrogen for its signature cascade. Method: 1) Pour at an angle into a pint glass, filling most of the way. 2) Rest — the famous two-part pour — while the surge settles. 3) Top up to a proud foam dome and serve. The experience: velvet-smooth, dry and roasty, with coffee and dark chocolate notes and a clean bitter finish. History: Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease on Dublin's St. James's Gate brewery in 1759 — a fine symbol of confidence — and his stout became Ireland's most recognized drink on Earth.