Coffee for Christmas

christmas-791118_640We love to build time for coffee into every part of our day, and that’s especially true at Christmas. Here are our top ‘coffees for Christmas’ to help you enjoy your day.

First thing on Christmas Day morning

Getting up late, opening presents…the perfect accompaniment to Christmas Day morning is a long, indulgent coffee. Make a big pot of your favourite coffee, and pour it into heated mugs. Top with whipped cream, a sprinkle of cinnamon and chocolate powder and maybe a mince pie on the side.

Mid morning on Christmas Day

Food to prepare, late minute preparations to make…it’s time for something a little stronger. Team a shot of rich, dark espresso with a drizzle of our lovely festive gingerbread flavoured coffee syrup for a caffeine kick that’ll get you though the next part of the day.

After lunch on Christmas Day

You’ve just eaten your own body weight in turkey and stuffing, and all you want to do is lie around on the sofa waiting for the Queen’s Speech. Try a milky latte made with skimmed milk – this is gentle on your digestion, but will give you the caffeine boost needed to encourage you out for a post-lunch walk.

Christmas Day evening

The day’s done, the food’s eaten, all the presents are distributed and it’s time to relax. Indulge yourself with a traditional Irish coffee. Pour hot black coffee into a heatproof glass until it’s 2/3 full. Stir in 1 teaspoon of sugar, and add a single measure (around 25ml) of whisky (or whiskey, if you’re being purist!). Hold a tablespoon over the top of the glass, and pour double cream over it until the cream floats on top of the drink in a thick layer. Drink, with the last of the mince pies.

We’d like to wish all our customers a very merry Christmas, and to say thank you for all your support during 2015.

The perfect Irish coffee

Photo by Jules:Stonesoup
Photo by Jules:Stonesoup

Coffee cocktails – mixtures of coffee and alcohol – have been around a long time, but the traditional Irish coffee is one of the best known and most popular. Called ‘Irish coffee’ as it was invented in Limerick, Ireland by head chef Joe Sheridan, it’s a mixture of hot coffee and Irish coffee. Sheridan invented the drink for group of passengers who got off a flight on a cold winter evening in the 1940s, adding whiskey to hot coffee to warm them up.

The drink quickly became so popular it spread worldwide, and it’s particularly well known in the US.

A traditional Irish coffee consists of strong black coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar and double cream (not whipped cream). The secret lies in pouring the cream over the back of a spoon so that it forms a floating layer on top of the coffee. The coffee is then sipped through the layer of cream.

Irish coffee recipe (makes two servings)

  • 425ml strong black coffee, made from good quality, fresh coffee beans
  • 25g brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons Irish whiskey
  • 90ml double cream

 

You’ll also need tall, heatproof glasses, preferably special Irish whiskey glasses, although it’s possible to improvise with mugs.

Start by dividing the whiskey and the sugar evenly between the two glasses, and stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Carefully pour the hot, fresh coffee into the glasses, finishing about 4cm from the top. Slowly pour the cream over the back of a tablespoon, so that it forms a layer on top of the coffee. Continue to pour the cream until it almost reaches the rim of the glass, then serve immediately.

To browse our range of quality coffee beans online, please visit our coffee beans page.