I know I’m a little late to the “whipped coffee” or Dalgona coffee trend, but I wanted to hold out for St. Patrick’s Day to make this awesome Whipped Irish Coffee!

Whipped coffee became quite the trend early in the pandemic. It’s made by whisking equal parts instant coffee granules, sugar, and hot water until it holds stiff peaks. You serve it on top of hot or warm milk, and then stir to combine, so adding whiskey to this lovely mix seemed like a no brainer to me.

Irish coffee is actually traditionally enjoyed the opposite way… kind of. Whiskey, sugar, and coffee are stirred together and then topped with heavy cream, while this whipped Irish coffee has the milk on the bottom rather than on top (although with whipped coffee, you do stir the milk and coffee together before enjoying). This recipe is to make the whipped Irish coffee iced, but you can easily adapt it to use warmed milk instead. If you’re looking for another spin on an Irish coffee, I also have a recipe for a Frozen Clover Cocktail you might want to try.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings):

1/4 cup instant coffee granules (normal ground coffee won’t work!)
1/4 cup sugar (or brown sugar to make it a touch more of a traditional Irish coffee)
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup whole milk, cold or warmed
2 to 3 oz Irish whiskey, or to taste
if making chilled, a few ice cubes

Instructions:

To make, add the instant coffee and sugar to a bowl.

Pour in the hot water and using an electric mixer, whisk to combine until peaks form, about 5 minutes. (You can try to do this by hand but man is it a workout. Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer is definitely the way to go here).

Once the whipped coffee is ready, pour in 1 to 1 1/2 oz Irish whiskey each into two glasses, depending on how strong you want to make the drink.

Follow with the milk adding about 1/4 cup to each glass. If serving chilled, add in some ice cubes. Stir to combine.

Spoon out the whipped coffee mixture on top of the milk mixture.

Carefully stir together, and enjoy.

This is a fun spin on a traditional Irish coffee – the presentation is pretty snazzy – but don’t you worry, the combined flavor of the whiskey, coffee, sugar, and milk is still there!