Make Irish Coffee the Buena Vista Cafe Way

The Buena Vista makes Irish coffees in batches; 28 glasses fit along its bar. When at home, select heat-proof, 6-ounce glasses, or purchase a pair of the classic Irish coffee glasses from the cafe.

Once the glasses are lined up, fill each one with steaming hot water. This warms the glass.

Dump the hot water out, and add two sugar cubes.

Now it's time to add the coffee. At Buena Vista, they use Peerless coffee from Oakland, CA, but any strong hot coffee will do. According to Nolan, each glass "should be filled 3/4 full with coffee."

When pouring the coffee, it can be hard to make the glassfuls even. If necessary, level out the coffee, so each glass has the same amount.

Use a small spoon to dissolve the sugar cubes in the coffee.

Next pour in the whiskey. Tullamore Dew is the official whiskey of the cafe (the cafe serves the world's largest amount of Irish whiskey). Nolan uses 1 1/4-1 1/2 ounces of whiskey per coffee.

Although customers always think it's sweetened, nothing is added to Buena Vista's cream. It's simply lightly whipped heavy cream. It should be thick and frothy, but not stiff. Nolan's tried every home mixer and recommends a handheld mixer for the best whipped cream.

Slowly pour the thickened cream over a spoon to create the collar on the Irish coffee. It should float on top of the whiskey-coffee mixture.

Irish coffees are truly a delicious treat. Sipping the warm, slightly sweetened whiskey-coffee through the cool cream is like drinking heaven. It's so good that on a busy day, The Buena Vista serves over 2,000 of them! Are you a fan of Irish coffee?