Unique Irish Coffee Experiences

You don’t have to wait until St. Patrick’s Day to enjoy an Irish coffee, although it seems that many people do. There are ways to kick up the drink a notch to make it more experiential and something to enjoy year round.

For instance, if you’ve ever been to the Erin Rose in the French Quarter of New Orleans, you know that the bar is famous for its Frozen Irish Coffee. The secret recipe, poured from a soft-serve machine into a black souvenir cup and sprinkled with coffee grounds, is popular all year but especially during the city’s peak heat and humidity days.

Another New Orleans establishment, Gospel Coffee and Boozy Treats in the Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, makes an Irish Coffee Milkshake. Restaurant and bar general manager Jessica Retif created the recipe using vanilla ice cream, Jameson Irish whiskey, simple syrup, Kahlua, cold brew concentrate coffee, a splash of nitro coffee and whipped cream. (Full recipe below.)

Nitro Irish Coffee at EZ’s Liquor Lounge in Houston.

EZ’s Liquor Lounge, a new dive bar in Houston, offers a Nitro Irish Coffee year round. Made with Paddy’s Irish whisky, dark sugar syrup, cold brew and thickened cream, the $13 drink is infused with nitrogen gas. This causes the temperature of the drink to chill and the texture to thicken and also decreases the bitterness, making it more palatable for non-coffee drinkers.

Eight Lounge at Resorts World Las Vegas infuses its Irish Coffee cocktail with Teeling whiskey and Guinness beer. Guests are encouraged to pair the Irish coffee cocktail (typically priced at $16 but offered for $8 on St. Patrick’s Day) with one of Eight’s rotating selection of 150-plus top-notch cigars.

And the new Rosevale Cocktail Room at the Civilian Hotel in New York takes Irish coffee to a new level with a reverse-engineered cocktail brewed tableside that combines a classic Irish coffee with spiced apple cider and chai tea.

The brewing vessel is a Yama Cyphen vacuum that’s heated right in front of the guests. The bottom half is filled with a 2010 vintage chai tea from Hong Kong; the top half is an aromatic blend of spices including coriander, star anise, cassia bark, ginger, juniper tree sprig and dehydrated orange peels.

The brewed drink is then topped up with apple cider whipped cream inspired by an apple cider donut; servers finish the cocktail by shaving a 5-lb. Hershey’s kiss chocolate over the top. Priced at $48, the Rosevale Irish coffee serves two people.

For more on Irish Coffee, check out our latest roundup of St. Patrick’s Day drinks, plus tips on how to make the perfect Irish Coffee from our sister magazine Cheers@Home.

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