How to Make Irish Coffee with Baileys or Jameson | Best Recipes

Here's a Helpful St. Patrick's Day Coffee Guide with Some Tasty Irish Cream Drink Recipes & More!

Oh, the glory of the Emerald Isle. Ireland is pretty famous for its drinks! To be fair, most of these drinks will leave you feeling quite tipsy. Coffee has the opposite effect! Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the combination of Irish cream and coffee is so divine. 

In commemoration of the Irish heritage that so many of us share (and of the upcoming shamrock-themed holiday), we've decided to put together this tasty little Saint Patrick's Day coffee guide. Below, you will find fun facts about St Patrick's Day, tasty (and boozy) coffee recipes, and more. Let's get to it! 

The Best Basic Irish Coffee Cocktail Classic

Irish coffee cocktails can be bold, warming, and perfect for a cold day in the middle of March. With all the green beer flowing at this time of the year, a delicious coffee cocktail can be the perfect addition to your leprechaun-laden celebration. One of our favorite Irish coffee cocktail recipes has roots that stretch back to 1942 and is based on a classic concoction from an Irish immigrant-owned restaurant in San Francisco. It is creamy, gently whipped, and lusciously warming. Here's how to make it! 

What You’ll Need / Ingredients: 

• 2-4 brown sugar / cubes to taste (or 2-4 tsp brown sugar)
• ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
• 3-4 ounces of your favorite Irish whiskey (or to taste)
• 8 ounces of freshly-brewed coffee (This one is PERFECT!)
• Hand-frother tool and a spoon
• Coffee pot or a way to brew fresh coffee
• Clear glass mugs or coffee mugs (but the glass ones look cooler) 
• Chocolate shavings or green sprinkles (like in the picture above, optional)
• Canned whipped cream (also optional)

Instructions: 

1. Warm your coffee cups or glass mugs by filling them with very hot water. (It's nice to have your glasses start off warm, this adds to the ambiance of the drink and keeps it from cooling down too fast.)
2. Next, whip your heavy cream until it is thickened. A coffee frothing tool can be very helpful for this! 
3. Go ahead and dump that warm water out of your coffee mugs. Fill them 3/5 of the way up with coffee and add the brown sugar. Stir it together until everything dissolves. You can use your coffee frother for this if you want! 
4. Add the whiskey and stir. 
5. Add the cream on top carefully. You can hold a spoon upside down over the coffee below and use it as a buffer to keep the heavy cream frothy as you pour it. The goal is to get your heavy cream to fill the rest of the mug without losing any of its fluff. 
6. Garnish with extra whipped cream, green holiday sprinkles, or chocolate shavings. Enjoy! 

Best Irish Coffee Baileys Recipe 

This Irish coffee recipe Baileys drink comes straight from the Baileys original cream liqueur website! It's indulgent, sweet, creamy, and ever so bold. With everything that a frothy latte should be, this delicious libation is perfect for a cold day or any Saint Patrick's celebration.

What You’ll Need / Ingredients: 

• 1 shot espresso (this one is great)
• 150ml hot milk
• Chocolate sprinkles to garnish
• 50 ml of Baileys Original Irish Cream 
• Espresso maker

Directions: 

1. Pour 150 ml of hot milk into a latte glass. You can heat your milk up on the stove, use the steaming spout of your espresso machine, or even heat it up in the microwave. 
2. Next, pour 100 ml of espresso into the milk, so about one and a half - two espresso shots.
3. Now, add 50 mL of Bailey's. You don't need to stir this drink together, as it will naturally integrate on its own. However, if you want to, you can gently stir everything for a smooth taste.
4. Lastly, froth a little bit of milk using your espresso machine's steaming spout and gently add it to the top of the liquid. Shave some dark chocolate on top and sip this fancy-at-home, boozy, deliciously Irish drink! 

Best Irish Coffee Jameson Recipe

We decided to go ahead and pull this Irish coffee Jameson recipe from the official Jameson Whiskey website as well. After all, not everyone loves Baileys! When it comes to coffee drinks, this is a quintessentially Irish libation that can really liven up your evening or help you chill out in the afternoon. This cocktail is the perfect Irish coffee drink for those who love the classics. Celebrate St Patrick's Day or enjoy smooth Jameson Whiskey nuances as you kick up your feet. 

What You’ll Need / Ingredients Per Glass: 

• 1 part double/heavy whipping cream
• ⅓ part sweet simple syrup 
• 3 parts espresso 
• 1 and ⅙ parts Jameson Original Whiskey
• Grated nutmeg
• 1 real vanilla pod, but vanilla extract in a pinch 
• Espresso machine
• Latte glasses 
• Milk frothing tool

Directions: 

1. First, warm up your latte glasses. This helps to hold in the heat and make your libation that much better.
2. Next, whip 30 ml of chilled double/heavy whipping cream until it begins to thicken. 
3. Brew the first 45 ml shot of coffee. Dump it into one of the latte glasses and then brew a second shot. 
4. Add the simple syrup to the hot shots of espresso, then stir. If you don't have vanilla pods, this would be the time to add one drop of vanilla extract to the glass. 
5. Using the back of a spoon, gently pour the whipped heavy cream so that it floats on top and does not fall in and begin sinking. 
6. Garnish with your trimmed vanilla pod if you have one. Then, sprinkle a little bit of nutmeg on top for the perfect finishing touch. Enjoy! 

Irish Coffee Cream Latte Recipe, No Alcohol

There are lots of ways to enjoy a delicious Irish cream latte. Some people enjoy lattes that have plenty of alcohol like Baileys, as in the latte recipe above. However, we wanted to offer you a non-alcoholic Irish latte option just in case you are trying to keep your wits about yourself this Saint Patrick's Day. It uses delicious pre-flavored, freshly roasted, Arabica coffee to impart bold, Irish cream flavor notes into your latte. For even more Irish Cream flavor, you can add Torani Irish Cream syrup in place of simple syrup. This at-home Irish cream latte can easily adjust to suit your individual tastes! 

Ingredients / Materials: 

• Espresso maker with a milk steaming spout
• Coffee grinder
• This fresh-roasted, pre-flavored Irish cream coffee
• Simple syrup (Irish cream syrup for 2X flavor, or any other flavor you like)
• Whole milk 
• Whipped cream or fresh heavy whipping cream fluffed up with a coffee frother
• A cup or mug that holds at least 14 ounces of liquid
• Nutmeg and cinnamon to garnish

Instructions

1. Begin by heating up your espresso machine. As you wait for your espresso machine to heat up, take your pre-flavored Irish cream coffee and scoop about three tablespoons into a coffee grinder. Pulverize it in your coffee grinder until it reaches a fine, powdery espresso consistency. 
2. Now that you have turned your regular coffee grounds into espresso, pull two espresso shots. Pour the espresso shots into your latte glass, coffee cup, or mug. 
3. To the espresso, now add simple syrup. You can add as little or as much as you like, but the standard recipe uses about 2 and 1/2 tablespoons. If you are going for 2X flavor, add Irish cream-flavored Torani syrup at this step. 
4. Now steam about one and a half cups of whole milk using your espresso machine's milk-steaming apparatus. If your espresso machine does not have a milk steamer, you can heat your milk up in the microwave or on the stove. Just be sure to stir regularly as it heats up to prevent burning. Your milk should reach a temperature of about 145-170° F, depending on how hot you like your lattes.  
5. Dump the steamed milk into your espresso and syrup mixture, and gently stir.
6. Add around two tablespoons of frothed heavy whipping cream or canned whipped cream on top. 
7. Garnish with a little bit of nutmeg and cinnamon for the perfect finish! 

6 Irish Whiskey Facts

Now that you have these great recipes, here are 6 Irish cream whiskey facts to use at the bar or on St. Paddy's Day!

1. The barley in Irish whiskey is usually not toasted. This makes it smoother! 
2. Irish whiskey is the only whiskey still made using heat applied to a pot. 
3. Most Irish whiskey is triple distilled. 
4. In accordance with the Irish Whiskey Act of 1980, Irish whiskey has to be distilled and aged in the Republic of Ireland or in Northern ireland. 
5. Baileys liqueur contains 50% cream, the rest is whiskey and flavors like cocoa. 
6. Irish cream is the flavor of vanilla, cocoa, and whiskey. 

Best Irish Coffee Creamer Options

Irish coffee creamer can be a tasty way to take your regular coffee to new levels of delicious Irish flavor. In fact, Irish cream is one of the most popular creamer flavor options! International Delight Irish cream-flavored coffee creamer is the most popular Irish coffee creamer around. 

However, many people want better options. After all, most coffee creamers are made using a slurry of vegetable oils and glycerin compounds which are not exactly great for your body. One fantastic way to enjoy Irish cream coffee flavors without vegetable oil is to buy flavored Irish cream coffee like this. Then, simply add a splash of heavy whipping cream to your freshly brewed coffee and enjoy delicious Irish cream flavors with no calories and no vegetable oil! For sweetness, add pure cane sugar to taste. Cheers!