Irish Coffee

A flight turned back in bad weather, and chef Joe Sheridan added whiskey to coffee for the returning passengers. That is how the Foynes museum tells the story of Irish coffee.[1] The drink brings together hot coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar and a floating layer of cream, left unstirred so the coffee is sipped through it.[9] Sheridan and Foynes in County Limerick are central to the familiar account, although the date and birthplace remain disputed.[1][5][7][10] It is one of the warm drinks in the guide to whisky cocktails.

Making Irish coffee at home

Start with a warm glass and finish with cream that floats. This recipe follows Jameson's home version, with Irish whiskey of your choice rather than a required brand. The quantities are a modern serving, not established measurements from Sheridan's first drink. Preheating the glass follows the Buena Vista's published method.[3][9]

Serves: one.
Glass: a heat-treated stemmed goblet.[3][4]
Ice: none.
Garnish: none.
Origin: disputed, with Sheridan and Foynes central to the familiar account.[1][5][10]

Ingredients

• 35 ml (about 1.2 fl oz) Irish whiskey.
• 90 ml (about 3 fl oz) strong hot coffee.
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar, or 10 ml (about 0.3 fl oz) demerara syrup.
• Lightly whipped cream, enough to float on top.[9]

Method

1. Warm the glass with hot water, then empty it before adding the ingredients.[3]
2. Add the sugar or syrup and hot coffee. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then add the measured whiskey.[3][9]
3. Float the lightly whipped cream on top. Leave it unstirred and sip the coffee through the cream.[9]

This is an attributed recipe, not a site-tested one. Keep the whiskey measured, offer water and food alongside, and nobody need finish the glass. Take breaks rather than making repeated servings.

Why the cream stays separate

Hot coffee below, cold cream above: that contrast defines the drink. The floating layer is part of the method, not just decoration. Jameson specifies that it should stay on top, without stirring it into a uniformly creamy mixture.[3][9]

Getting there took work at the Buena Vista. The cafe's account describes two early problems: the flavour was not right and the cream would not float. Its published method uses cold heavy cream; Jameson's home recipe uses lightly whipped cream. These are the producers' respective methods, rather than a single cream preparation required for every version.[3][9]

Origin: story and record

Foynes has the familiar story, but neither the invention date nor the birthplace is settled. The published accounts disagree on both.[1][5][6][10][11]

The claim that Irish coffee originated at the time described in the Foynes account runs into three different dates. Tourism Ireland gives 1942, the Foynes museum gives winter 1943, and the Oxford Companion gives late 1944 or early 1945.[1][10][11] The exact night is not reliably established.

Verdict: Disputed

The earliest known source is not established from the sources checked.

Sources: Foynes museum; Tourism Ireland; Oxford Companion [11].

Last checked: To be verified by the editor.

The claim that Irish coffee originated at Foynes also has a rival. The museum places the origin there, while Eric Felten cites an alternative account involving Dublin's Dolphin pub, discussed by KQED and the Irish Echo.[1][5][6] The Dolphin account is not reliably established, and Foynes is not an uncontested birthplace.

Verdict: Disputed

The earliest known source is not established from the sources checked.

Sources: Foynes museum; KQED; Irish Echo.

Last checked: To be verified by the editor.

Story box: the Foynes account

A chef, an airport and a floating cream layer.

Passengers returning from a flight turned back by bad weather were served coffee with whiskey: that is the scene at the heart of the museum's account. It credits chef Joe Sheridan at Foynes, where O'Regan opened the terminal restaurant in 1943.[1]

The museum also records how Sheridan applied for the chef's job. His brief letter read: “Dear Sir, I'm the man for the job. Yours sincerely, Joe Sheridan.” O'Regan, it records, said the letter's impudence earned Sheridan an interview.[2]

Verdict: Documented

The application itself was not independently examined for this article. The earliest known source is not established from the sources checked.

Sources: Foynes museum, Sheridan biography.

Last checked: To be verified by the editor.

Foynes closed in October 1945, and its catering staff moved to Rineanna, now Shannon International Airport. That move connects Foynes with the drink's subsequent airport history: by 1951, the museum says, Irish coffee was Shannon's traditional welcoming drink.[2]

Sources and claim mapping: The museum's origin account supports its account of Sheridan, Brendan O'Regan's restaurant and the returned flight. Its Sheridan biography supports the application, O'Regan's reported response, the move to Rineanna and the account of the airport's welcoming drink by 1951.

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Legend or tradition: the Brazilian coffee exchange

Claim: A passenger asked whether the drink was Brazilian coffee, and Sheridan replied that it was Irish coffee.[1]

Verdict: Legend

The museum tells the exchange as part of the drink's origin story; KQED also discusses this familiar account.[1][5] No contemporary record of the exchange is established in the supplied research, and the earliest known source is not established from the sources checked.

Sources: Foynes museum, origin account; KQED, historical reporting.[1][5]

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

How Irish coffee reached San Francisco

Travel writer Stanton Delaplane encountered Irish coffee at Rineanna in 1951 and wrote about it in his syndicated Postcards column. He then worked with Buena Vista owner Jack Koeppler to recreate it. The cafe began serving the drink on 10 November 1952.[2][3][4]

The cafe's plaque divides the credit neatly: Sheridan for invention, Delaplane for introduction and Koeppler for developing Irish coffee into a national institution. That distinction is more useful than calling San Francisco its birthplace: the Buena Vista's role was in introducing and establishing the drink there.[4][5]

Claim: The Buena Vista made America's first Irish coffee in 1952.

Verdict: Disputed

The cafe's plaque makes the claim. Felten cites a St Patrick's Day recipe by Clementine Paddleford in the New York Herald Tribune in 1948, four years before the cafe began serving the drink.[4][5][6]

The earlier recipe is known here through later journalism, rather than examination of the newspaper. It does not establish where or when the drink was first served in America. The earliest known source is not established from the sources checked.

Sources: San Francisco registry report; KQED; Irish Echo.

Last checked: To be verified by the editor.

Where to go next

• Whisky Cocktails: The Complete Guide: the wider cocktail family and other ways to use whisky.
• Hot Toddy: another warm whisky drink, with its own entry rather than a coffee variation.
• Atholl Brose: a separate entry in the whisky cocktail guide.

Sources

[1] Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. Irish Coffee Centre: The Origin of Irish Coffee. Web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://flyingboatmuseum.com/irish-coffee-centre/

[2] Foynes Flying Boat & Maritime Museum. The Inventor Of Irish Coffee: Meet Chef Joe Sheridan. Web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://flyingboatmuseum.com/irish-coffee-centre/more-about-chef-joe-sheridan/

[3] The Buena Vista. The Irish Coffee Story. Cafe's own account, web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://www.thebuenavista.com/home/irishcoffee.html

[4] City and County of San Francisco, Historic Preservation Commission. Legacy Business Registry Staff Report: Buena Vista Cafe. Report LBR-2020-21-045, edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://www.sf.gov/sites/default/files/2022-04/Item%202b.%20LBR-2020-21-045%20Buena%20Vista%20Cafe.pdf

[5] KQED. The True History of Irish Coffee and Its San Francisco Origins. Web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://www.kqed.org/news/11621844/the-true-history-of-irish-coffee-and-its-san-francisco-origins

[6] Irish Echo. Irish Coffee's fabled origins. 2023 web edition.
https://www.irishecho.com/2023/6/irish-coffee-s-fabled-origins

[7] RTÉ Brainstorm. A short history of the Irish coffee. 2023 web edition.
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2023/0922/1362073-irish-coffee-history-foynes-1943/

[9] Jameson Irish Whiskey. Irish Coffee Origin: The History Behind the Mug. Brand's own account and home recipe, web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/en-gb/our-world/origin-of-irish-coffee/

[10] Tourism Ireland, Ireland.com. Cliffs and coves. Web edition supplied in the fact sheet, publication year not specified.
https://www.ireland.com/en-us/plan-your-trip/trip-ideas/cliffs-and-coves-wild-atlantic-way/

This article was prepared as desk research from the supplied verified fact sheet and editorial rulings, without a site recipe test or independent examination of the historical newspaper records.

Last checked: November 2026