Name: Irish Coffee Recipe
Cook time: 5 min
Yield: 2 drinks
Ingredients: 6 teaspoons Demerara or turbinado sugar; 3 ounces Irish whiskey; 4 ounces espresso; 4 ounces water; 3 ounces heavy cream; 2 fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Irish Coffee Recipe

2 drinks

Cook5 min

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

100Calories

0 gProtein

5 gFat

13 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 6 ingredients. The other 4 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Whiskey	not in our table	0
Coffee	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Peppermint	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + minttop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,592 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + minttop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together594 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the mint

The recipe marks mint as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream):

Nutmegfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Gingerfits better
Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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