Irish Coffee Glasses

[BrooksNYC]

In a preface to his recipe for Irish Coffee (below) Dale DeGroff recommends serving the drink in a small glass. Unsure as to what "small" meant, I Googled Irish Coffee glasses. The most widely available (and presumably most popular) glasses are 8 or 8.5 ounces, with a handle.

But I also came across 6-ounce stemmed Irish Coffee glasses, such as these:

http://www.historyco...tails.php?p=335

Anyone have thoughts about glass size? Thanks.

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Irish Coffee (Dale DeGroff)

1.5 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 ounce brown sugar syrup (one part brown sugar, one part water)

Hot brewed coffee

Unsweetened cream, very lightly whipped

Add the whiskey and syrup to an Irish Coffee glass, and fill two-thirds of the way with coffee. Top with one inch of whipped cream.

Edited August 18, 2012 by BrooksNYC (log)

[Chris Hennes]

I personally prefer the larger 8oz glasses, because I like having more coffee. Then again, I also often ask that they omit the whipped cream, so obviously my taste in Irish Coffee is questionable...

[Jaymes]

Those stemmed Irish Coffee glasses to which you linked are beautiful. And since the more-typical type with the handles are pretty common, you'd get considerable bonus points for serving guests coffee in the less-common ones.

So it seems to me that if you have minimal budget constraints, and plenty of storage space, it might be nice to own some of the smaller and more unusual ones. But because we never had a lot of storage space, and we moved around a lot, it was wiser for me to own dishes, glassware, etc., that were more versatile.

Pretty early on in my wife/mother/hostess career, I bought 12 of the larger, handled variety from a restaurant supply house and it's impossible for me to tell you how many times I used those through the years, and what all I used them for, because the uses were endless.

The smaller glasses might be perfect for a shot of strong coffee & whiskey, but the larger ones work for hot chocolate, mocha, cappuccino, frappes and lattes, Mexican-style café con leche, hot and cold soups, mousses, souffles, parfaits, gazpacho, sundaes, puddings, jello desserts for the kids...

And we often pressed them into service just for regular ol' coffee when we had a lot of guests and we ran out of other cups and mugs.

Like I said, the uses were endless.

I found those glasses to be particularly handy when entertaining guests at a cocktail party or buffet dinner when we weren't at a table, and seating was at something of a premium. The handled-glasses are more convenient for serving an assortment of appetizer-type soups, seafood cocktails, etc., and desserts to folks that are wandering around mingling with the other guests.

And although some folks, like Chris, might not like lots of whipped cream atop their Irish Coffee, hot cocoa, mocha, mousse, parfait, pudding, jello dessert, etc., I'd say he's definitely in the minority. Not to mention that if you're serving something like a cold soup or tomato aspic that benefits from some sort of garnish or mayo-based topping or foam, you have plenty of room for that.

In my experience, it was always better to have too much room rather than too little.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

[BrooksNYC]

Chris and Jaymes, thanks very much for your input.

Jaymes, you make great points, and given the infrequency with which I'm likely to serve Irish Coffee in the near or distant future, it makes no sense to invest in glasses that can't be adapted to other uses.

The stemmed six-ouncers could do double duty as absinthe glasses, but I already have absinthe glasses. Besides, your comprehensive list of alternate uses for the eight-ounce glasses is very persuasive. I'm sold! Thanks for taking the time to post such a helpful response.

Not to mention that if you're serving something like a cold soup or tomato aspic....

Tomato aspic! My New Orleans mother made wonderful tomato aspic. Aspics aren't popular north of the Mason-Dixon, and it's a shame. They're great summertime fare. Maybe I'll roll up my sleeves and make some!

Edited August 20, 2012 by BrooksNYC (log)