Getting "Warmed Up" for St. Patrick's Day

Are you ready to get shamrocking?  Dance an Irish jig? Put on your green?  Kiss a blarney stone?  Hey, St. Paddy's Day is right around the corner.  And if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, so is the U.S. birthplace of Irish coffee.  It's the legendary Buena Vista Cafe, our own "pot of gold."

As the story is told, on the night of November 10, 1952, a challenge was issued to Stanton Delaplane (an award-winning travel writer) to help Jack Koeppler, owner of the Buena Vista Cafe in San Francisco, to recreate a drink served at the Shannon Airport in Dublin, Ireland. The iconic beverage was called an Irish coffee.  And if you have the luck of the Irish, this magical beverage is a blend of coffee and Irish whiskey, served with cream on top and a sugar cube or two.

So, tasting, toasting, and tweaking into the "wee" hours of the night, the two mixologists pursued the perfect balance of brewed coffee, the right whiskey, and the cream flotilla atop. It took a trip to Ireland, and perhaps a rainbow, leprechaun, and pot of you-know-what, to master the secret recipe.

The glass-footed mug was heated, the perfect amount of coffee poured, a full jigger of Irish Whiskey added, and the secret to the perfect cream revealed.  Oh yeah, and maybe just a sprinkling of magic.

A plaque outside the cafe and bar at 2765 Hyde Street, San Francisco, reads:  "Buena Vista commemorates America's first Irish coffee."  So if you are visiting San Francisco, it's a "must" experience/bucket list/go-to spot.  Hop on a cable car and indulge in something so "very San Fran."  You'll pinch yourself!

Do you want the recipe for Irish coffee?  Of course you do.  Here it is:

Ingredients for 1 glass -
6 ounces brewed coffee
2 sugar cubes
1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey (one jigger)
heavy cream, lightly whipped

Directions -
1.  Fill glass with very hot water to pre-heat, then empty.
2.  Pour hot coffee into glass until it is about 3/4 full.
3.  Drop in 2 cocktail sugar cubes.
4.  Stir until sugar is fully dissolved.
5.  Add a full jigger of Irish whiskey for proper taste and body.
6.  Top with a collar of whipped cream by pouring gently over a spoon.
Enjoy while piping hot!

How about some Irish coffee trivia?  The source is liquor.com.  And the author is Amanda Marsteller, from 3 years ago.

1.  Buena Vista Cafe's daily yield is 100 bottles of Irish whiskey and 2,000 Irish coffees.
2.  Buena Vista Cafe pours more Irish whiskey than anyone in the world.
3.  Paul Nolan, who has been at the famed location for 37 years, has poured 3 or 4 million Irish coffees.
4.  For the perfect creamy top, let the cream "languish" for a few days before whipping. Aging the cream makes for a better float.