Monday, March 17

Literary Libations: Irish Coffee & Saint Patrick's Day

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Disclaimer: Unfortunately I got really sick on Sunday around 4:00 p.m., so I didn't get to taste my Irish Coffee. However, the first, 'traditional' recipe is extremely popular and well known so I feel very comfortable recommending it to you. I also want to send a BIG thank you to my husband who made the drinks and took the pictures while I was laying in bed unable to move. Love you!
Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! This is the day that welcomes spring. Everything is green, we drink, we party, we revel. We hope that the coming weeks will bring warmth. To help you celebrate this day I will show you how to make a traditional Irish Coffee.


Traditional Irish Coffee is pretty easy. You will need: 6 ounces of coffee, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar or normal sugar, 2 ounces of Irish whiskey, heavy cream. Warm your glass by pouring in hot water. Let it sit for a minute and then pour out the water (this keeps the glass from cooling your coffee). Add your 6 ounces of hot coffee. Mix in the (brown) sugar until completely dissolved. Mix in the 2 ounces of whiskey. Top with heavy cream by gently pouring the cream over a spoon. The sugar and the method of pouring the cream over the spoon will cause the cream to float on top of the drink. Your done!


I actually made my Irish Coffee slightly differently. I used brown sugar and whiskey from Canada. I didn't want to buy another container of whiskey when I already had one around the house. Rather than heavy cream I simply topped with whipped cream. Either method is good, but mine was slightly faster and more economical for me. If you don't already have whiskey around the house, try and pick up an Irish one to celebrate the special day!


Normally I would talk about the book I'm reading here, but since this post lands on the actual Saint Patrick's Day, I thought I'd share some lore and facts about the man himself. For starters, the real man was not Irish, but actually British. His family was well off, owned slaves, and were Christian. Patrick, however, did not receive much emphasis on his faith from his parents. At age 16, Patrick was kidnapped and sent to Ireland to work as a slave himself. During his time in Ireland, Patrick experienced a conversion to Christianity. He stayed there tending sheep until he believed the Lord told him to escape. He ran away, booked passage on a pirate ship, and was returned to his family. Back in Britain, Patrick became ordained as a priest and believed the Lord wanted him to return to Ireland. At this time he went back to Ireland and spent the rest of his life trying to convert the country to Christianity. As lore goes Patrick used the three-leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity to the natives and that is why the plant is so important to Saint Patrick's Day. If you are curious for more information about Saint Patrick you can check out my sources: National Geographic, History, and Bio.

If you haven't decided what you want to do in celebration of Saint Patrick's Day yet, check out my post from last week where I rounded up a bunch of great ideas form other blogs.

40 comments:

  1. It looks really yummy! I must try to do it *o*

    I hope that you visit my blog too and maybe follow: SPIKED-SOUL.BLOGSPOT.COM :)
    Have a nice day!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the drink!

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  2. Happy saint patrick days ♥ thanks for visiting my blog .anyway would you like to follow each other? So we can keep on contact

    xoxo

    theanotherpartofme.blogspot.com

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    1. I hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day as well! I enjoyed the visit and will stop by again!

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  3. When I saw the first picture with the 'Irish coffee' label on it, it instantly made me think of my Grandmother. She loooves Irish coffee :) Haha, I've never tried though.
    Also, thank you very much for telling us something more about St. Patrick's day. Because I live in Belgium, I'm not familiar with this holiday (but I was a bit too lazy to look it up myself, haha).
    Anyway, I hope you're feeling better very soon!
    Have a nice week!

    Sofie x
    Little green Sofie

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    1. I love things that are such instant reminders of people we care about! I'm glad you enjoyed the bit of history! I realized I didn't know much about the holiday either, which is why I looked it up! :) I'm feeling much better today. Thank you for stopping by!

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  4. Happy Saint Patrick day!
    Nice post and blog =)
    Xx,
    Julie | http://www.juliechagas.com

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thank you! I hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day too!

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  5. I love Irish Coffee! It tastes so good! HAHAHA I love what you added to it. Happy St. Paddy's Day!
    http://www.averysweetblog.com/

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    1. Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. I love Irish Coffee. Interesting information in how St Patricks Day came about thanks. Happy St. Paddy's Day
    http://tifi11.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a great holiday!

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  7. . me gusta muchisimo el cafe irlandes y para mi es tan relajado es ideal
    Te invito a pasar por mi blog
    http://dolcevirginia.blogspot.com.es

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    1. Gracias por leer! Yo le visitará, tambien.

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  8. Never tried Irish coffee b/c I'm iffy abt putting any kind of liquor in my coffee but this looks so creamy to resist! Thank u for informing us about who St.Patrick was! Had no idea he was actually British. Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
    www.speakstyleandrock.com

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    1. If you are iffy about liquor in coffee a great starter is simply adding peppermint schnapps! I think I may have lived off cocoa and/or coffee with peppermint schnapps my senior year of college. I'm glad you enjoyed the read!

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  9. Happy St. Paddy's day, I love everything Irish from soda breads, irish stew, irish cream, guinness beer, & this coffee is delicious everybody should try this!! :)

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by! I'm so glad you liked the post!

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  10. st. patrick was british? goodness, that would be a stumper at trivia :) that irish coffee looks delicious. feel better soon <3

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    1. I know! I had no idea until I was getting ready to write this post. Thanks so much! I'm feeling a lot better.

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  11. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I love irish coffee, big tradition in my family!

    Hope you feel better soon - I love your blog :)

    http://kind-regards-c.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. I hope your holiday was great as well! What a fun tradition! I'm feeling much better, thank you so much!

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  12. Replies
    1. Thank you! I hope you are having a great week!

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  13. That must be very taste, have a good day, bye.

    http://melange-boutique.blogspot.com.es

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  14. Amiga blog maravilhoso amei ótimo post
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    ReplyDelete
  15. Hello would you want to see my new post? Then you go look. Keep in touch.

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  16. Hello dear! How was your Saint Patricks day??
    Xx,
    Julie | http://www.juliechagas.com

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    1. Unfortunately I was sick, but I'm much better now! I hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day. Thanks for stopping by!

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  17. Hi Lauren, sorry to hear that you were ill, hope you're better now. I don't drink alcohol so i am not sure what an Irish coffee should taste like. Thanks for giving us a little background on St Patricks Day, its not really widely celebrated here so it was good to read this info. I am grateful for your kind comment over at mine.

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    1. I'm doing much better now, thank you! I had fun looking up the information. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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  18. OOH! how was St. Patrick's day for you?? :)
    I love love your blogsite! :)

    http://dominooh.blogspot.ca/

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    Replies
    1. I was sick on St. Paddy's day, but that's how it goes! I hope you are having a good week and thanks for stopping by!

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