SPRING IN JERSEY. IRISH COFFEE WITH A TWIST.  A CHOCOLATE TWIST. 

It is the month of March, and this month brings with it the first day of spring. It also brings with it, the traditional celebrating of the patron saint, St. Patrick, or as we call it, St. Patrick's Day. As soon as March rolls around, I start thinking about and making preparations to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. After all, it is the holiday to celebrate the luck of the Irish, and what better way to celebrate, than with an Irish coffee. Of course, our celebrations also include, leprechaun and rainbow crafts with the kids, Shepherds pie, playing Irish music including one of our favorites, Danny Boy, while doing an Irish jig, and playing musical chairs as a family. 😅😅😅 This can get really wild and crazy.

But we also take this celebration and the history of it seriously. And we take our Irish coffee and the making of it seriously. With that being said, I wanted to share with you, the history of the invention of the first Irish coffee.

History has it that the Irish coffee was invented on a dark and stormy night in 1943. According to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum, a Pan Am flight headed to New York was forced to turn around because of bad weather. When it pulled into the Foynes terminal, the cold and tired passengers disembarked. The museum crew wanted to warm up the passengers, so Joe Sheridan, who was a cook at the time at the airport, whipped up the perfect drink to keep the people warm and awake. Americans, or Yanks as they were called, liked their coffee with a little extra cream and a little extra sugar. So Joe whipped up some coffee with a "little extra" cream and sugar and added some Irish whiskey. So the Irish coffee was born. Chef Joe Sheridan was born in Castlederg, Northern Ireland in 1909. After the death of his father, he decided to move to Dublin, and got a job in a restaurant. He applied for the job of chef in 1943 at the airport in Foynes, and so as they say, the rest is Irish history.

There are different brands of Irish whiskey, and the one that you choose depends on the specific tastes you are looking for. Since we love chocolate, and most of my friends love chocolate, I wanted to create an Irish coffee with, well you guessed it, CHOCOLATE! So I had to go in search of the perfect Irish whiskey to pair with my chocolate. I chose The Quietman brand.

The Quietman brand of Irish whiskey is an 8 year old single malt whiskey and is full of flavors that go perfectly with dark chocolate. It opens with floral noes and a hint of orchard fruits before moving on to a palate that is brimming with vanilla and oak. It paired perfectly with my mocha coffee. We found my Irish coffee to be absolutely delicious, and I hope you will as well.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED: 6 oz. (3/4 cup) of dark roast brewed coffee - 1/4 cup light cream, heated in the microwave - 1 oz. or 1 jigger full of The Quietman Irish whiskey - 2 Tbsps. Domino light or dark brown sugar - 1 Tbsp. Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder

TO MAKE: Brew coffee. Heat up your cream in the microwave, not to boiling, but just enough to heat it up, about 30 seconds. Pour cream into a mug and add the brown sugar, cocoa and whiskey. Stir completely until smooth. If you need to put back in microwave to get rid of cocoa lumps, you can for about 10 to 15 seconds. When coffee is finished brewing, pour 3/4 cup of hot coffee into cream mixture. Stir until smooth and blended. Top with whipped cream. Salute' and Happy St. Patrick's Day. 🍀