Irish Coffee
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.