Irish Vs Kentucky Coffee: The Difference Between The Boozy Drinks

Irish coffee is an adult tipple that you might have enjoyed during chilly nights in the holiday season, or perhaps as the nightcap to a perfect St. Paddy's Day celebration. There's no wrong time to enjoy Irish coffee, with its bracing notes of strong black coffee, its kiss of Irish whisky, and its mellow savor of cream and sugar to smooth everything out. While some foods and beverages don't come by their monikers honestly, Irish coffee is a legit product of County Limerick. The story goes that cold, tired PanAm plane travelers were treated to an impromptu pick-me-up by a bartender who spiked coffee with whisky and saw it become popular in the U.S. via San Francisco.

Kentucky coffee has one major difference from Irish coffee: it contains bourbon. There are significant differences between bourbon and whiskey, and the flavor profiles are noticeable to those with discerning palates. All bourbon is whiskey by definition, but the opposite isn't true. (Note that, just to complicate matters, Irish whisky is its own thing as well!) 

Bourbon does not necessarily have to originate in Kentucky, but the Bluegrass State is undeniably associated with this product ... which is why it makes sense to call a hot cocktail of coffee, cream, sugar, and bourbon a "Kentucky" coffee. Yanks are definitely known to enjoy the comforting pleasures of an Irish coffee from time to time, but the Kentucky version is a charmingly patriotic riff on the European original using that sublime native product of bourbon. It could be argued that Kentucky coffee is not as well-known as its Irish cousin, but social media denizens have been riffing on the recipe for years.

It's widely agreed that the first and most important ingredient required for Kentucky coffee is strong, high-quality joe. There are some gadgets that you need for great home-brewed coffee, too, so gather them and get brewing. Of course, you also need your bourbon of choice. Beyond that, the technique is a bit open to interpretation. Reddit users have been playing with the creation of Kentucky coffee and have some brilliant ideas on the matter.

"[I] may riff off of that and do a bacon fat washed bourbon and maple syrup as the sweetener," one commenter declared. Another Redditor, having tried bourbon with coffee for the first time, deemed it superior to Irish coffee: "I used about 1.5oz of Buffalo Trace bourbon in about 10oz of coffee from my [F]rench press with a dash of hazelnut creamer. The flavor profile of this combo is just phenomenal!" Meanwhile, a commenter on r/cocktails determined that the topper to the drink was the real kicker and so concocted a bourbon-spiked whipped cream: "Add cream, sugar, bourbon, and pinch of salt to a bowl and whisk for-f***ing-ever. As it starts to thicken, slowly drizzle in the melted butter."

We're of the opinion that there is no "wrong" way to do spirits and coffee so long as it's in moderation, so we love Irish coffee and Kentucky coffee equally. The booze that you use in your beverage makes a difference, but the fine details are up to you. Whether you savor it on a special occasion or just as a warmer after a busy day, your spiked coffee cocktail will certainly boost your spirits.