My beautiful friend Michelle had the good fortune to visit San Francisco’s Buena Vista Cafe recently and enjoyed a glass of their legendary Irish Coffee.
As she described the coffee’s deliciousness, I knew I needed to try this. And, of course, it was wonderful.
Here is a link to a YouTube video that shows a bartender at the cafe preparing the coffee…with considerable flare, I might add. Feel free to make your own drama when you make the delicious drink. (Buena Vista Irish Coffee).
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. I enjoyed my Irish Coffee to the tune of Glen Yarborough’s “So Long San Francisco.” Join me: Glen Yarborough Sings So Long San Francisco.
Buena Vista Irish Coffee
June 28, 2025
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Irish whiskey
- 1 t. brown sugar
- Hot, strong brewed coffee (4-6 oz.)
- Heavy cream (lightly whipped)
Directions
- Step 1 Warm your glass by filling it with hot water and letting it sit for a short while. Pour the hot water out and put 1 t. brown sugar in the glass.
- Step 2 Pour hot coffee over the sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar.
- Step 3 Pour whiskey into the glass. (The word is that the Buena Vista Cafe favors Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey for their Irish Coffees.)
- Step 4 Lightly whip the heavy cream. Top off your Irish Whiskey with a generous amount of the whipped cream. To keep the cream from sinking to the bottom of the glass, pour the cream over the back of a teaspoon as you add it to the Irish Coffee. Do not stir.
