The secret to Duffy’s Shamrock Bar’s world-famous Irish coffee is the cream, whipped slowly in an ordinary kitchen mixer to a consistency just this side of butter and sweetened ever so slightly with powdered sugar.
“It’s the commercial-grade whipping cream. It’s like 40 percent butterfat,” said Terry Sullivan, Duffy’s morning bartender for 24 years, on the bar’s final morning.
Supermarket heavy cream will whip up nicely, but in truth, Duffy’s Irish coffee is just a silky, sweet memory.
Duffy’s Shamrock Bar’s Irish Coffee
No frou-frou sugar rim for this classic working-man’s tipple. Just pour your coffee and booze in the mug and top with thick whipped cream. Makes 1 drink.
Ingredients
2 ounces Irish whiskey (Duffy’s used Bushmills)
4 ounces hot coffee, regular or decaf
Whipped cream, sweetened slightly with powdered sugar
Directions
Pour a shot of whiskey in the bottom of an 8 1/2-ounce glass mug. Add coffee and top with a heavy dollop of whipped cream so it’s about an inch thick.
