Toyomafia - The Clubhouse. Merry Christmas!

When I moved there back in 03, everyone made their tater jokes. When i got there, I confirmed them.. told everyone to this day, nothing but ol simplot fields for mcdonalds... dont come see for yourself.

Then I sat there by lucky peak and enjoyed the views.

 

That's what motivated me to help others. Something about looking deep into those eyes.... even through the sunglasses

 

Yup, nothing but potatoes. You find them in weird places around here too

 

TBH, I saw more onions in my neck of the woods. Lots of them over near Parma

 

That show was never the same after they transitioned to the Testarossa

 

Lived in both, still own houses in both.

 

Ok, so here we go... I'm going to break these down for you into a couple of different posts. However, I'll try to keep them flowing and finish this up by tomorrow night so you'll have the intel necessary to create your own version of this fantastic after-dinner drink. It's perfect for enjoying w/your favorite dessert or simply by itself as a way to warm your heart and spirit on cold fall evening

Let's start w/the basics: The 'generic' recipes...

v1: Irish Whiskey, Coffee, Brown Sugar, Lightly Whipped Heavy Cream!!!

v2: Irish Whiskey, Coffee, Simple Syrup, Bailey's Irish Creme, Lightly Whipped Heavy Cream!!!


These recipes were essentially the building blocks to my sampling and they kinda paved the way toward the final product(s)... Yes, I am going to have 2 recommended recipes for you. My original intention was to find the single BEST recipe possible. However, throughout the course of testing and sampling, I kept finding myself liking 2 different versions of this drink. To me one seemed more 'traditional' and the other seemed a bit more 'mainstream' or 'common'. In the end my wife preferred the latter (she tends to enjoy sweeter or mixed drinks), and I prefered the more 'tradtional' version; I tend to enjoy sipping my whiskies 'neat' or w/a couple of drops of water to open it up and allow it to breathe.

Since the 2 main components of the drink are whiskey and coffee, we'll focus on those components first... to be continued!!!!

PS>>> We would like to take this time to thank our 'official' sponser and palete cleanser of this event: Beaver Nuggets

Beaver Nuggets were provided courtesy of @TaquitoBandito (THE Official Beaver Nugget Dealer of Tundras.com) for the sole purpose of cleansing our paletes and preparing the mouths of our testers for a neutral sample of the next offering throughout the testing process. Buc-ees is in no way connected to or endorsing this event, and the host(s) of this event are in no way responsible for the content contained therein. While Beaver Nuggets clearly are a winner when it comes to wiping any previous taste from your mouth, they are in NO WAY an ideal treat to pair w/whiskey, coffee, an Irish Whiskey, or any other rendition of these offerings; although we'd imagine they'd go great w/a cheap beer.

Finally, all forum members agree to hold harmless the testing facilitators, administrators, consumanators, and anyone else involved in this mess

PPS>>> Please consume responsibly

 

The Coffee: ALL recipes call for Strong HOT Coffee (usually 4oz)

It's important to note that 'strong' coffee doesn't necessarily mean a dark roast or a roast that is highly acidic and bitter. Strong coffee is about ratio; the ratio of ground coffee to water... What we are after here is a rich, heavy, coffee w/strong decearnble aromas, flavors and a good amount of surface oil that pairs well w/Irish Whiskey.

Now, here is where I sustained a significant re-direct in the process. Generally speaking, I prefer a darker roast coffee; but in sampling numerous offerings paired w/various Irish Whiskies, I quickly discovered that darker roasts were not better. In the end, my preference was a medium roast Guatemalan. It paired very nicely w/almost every whiskey and seemed to bring consistently balanced aromas and flavors in the drink

For reference, you should be able to source a nice Guatemalan at most grocery stores and coffee shops. Find one that you enjoy (by itself), and I'm sure you'll find it will be a great fit for your Irish Whiskey. Two common favorites that are easy to access in the my area are Sbux's Casi Cielo and Human Bean's Organic House Coffee (which is a blend of Guatemalan and Costa Rican coffee beans)...

In the end my preference w/my 'traditional' Irish Coffee Recipe is Casi Cielo

While my wife preferred the Human Bean Organic House Coffee in her favorite, which was the more 'common' version of Irish Coffee
The Process: You really should French Press The following process is what I used in making all of my test samples, and I truly believe it will give you the best and most consistent final product when it comes to making the coffee component of the drink. French Press is also the best way to get a good layer of 'oils' on the top of the cup; these oils are not only important for providing strong coffee aromas that we all love, but they allow a smoother 'blend' or incorporation w/the other ingredients...


Start w/fresh whole bean coffee. Grind your beans by hand just before using them. The best grinder is a ceramic conical shaped burr grinder; it is to coffee what a mortar and pestle are to spices. If you use a blade grinder, you end up w/a 'processed' grind that starts blending the oils of the beans into themselves as they grind; you're actually breaking the coffee down at a cellular level. By using the burr grinder, you are essentially smashing the beans and releasing what they have to offer w/o processing them. Most grinders have various settings for the type of brew you will be doing, and French Press requires a very coarse grind so set your grinder accordingly.

Next up is the water (preferably distilled water), it must be HOT, but not boiling. Proper water temp for french press does depend on your roast. Darker roast 180-190 degrees, medium roast is about 205 and light roast around 212-215 degrees... If you have an electric hot water kettle for tea and such, those will generally give you water just shy of boiling. So, by the time you take it off the stand, move to your press, and pour; it should be just about perfect for the medium roast gautemalan suggestions listed above.

While we are talking about temperature... I will say that it was not only a factor in the proper brewing process of the coffee, but it is also important to note that if your french press, coffee cups/drink cups are not 'pre-heated', you'll see a significant drop in temp of the final product (your Irish Coffee), which is not what you want... (man I just comma spliced the shit out of that run-on sentence)

So, while you're allowing your water to heat, it is important to either steam or run very hot water in your french press and the cups you'll be using for the final drink to retain maximum temp of the drink in its final form

Ok, ratio for STRONG coffee is about 1:12 (coffee to water)... normally speaking, most folks FP at about a 1:15-1:17 ratio. But, since we are shooting for STRONG coffee, I found that 1:12 gave a perfect balance of strength w/o the heavy mouthfeel of too much coffee, which happened at about 1:10 down to 1:8 ratios... (yes, I sampled various ratios prior to moving on to the mixed stage of testing where the coffee was paired w/the whiskies)...

*** In simplistic terms (no math needed), you'd use about 1/3 cup of ground coffee to 32oz of water for a 1:12 ratio***

Ok, so we have our pre-heated press and mugs; we've got 1/3 cup of fresh ground coffee sitting in the bottom of the press; and immediately after our water comes to temp, we pour the water into the press, and give the mixture a gentle swirl (or incorporation) *** DO NOT STIR ***

... then we place the lid on the press and allow the coffee to steep for about 4 minutes

While the coffee is steeping we'll add the brown sugar to the bottom of our coffee cup, and if we're using the alternate recipe w/simple syrup, we'll add that to the bottom of the cup instead of the brown sugar.

As soon as the timer goes off at the 4 minute mark *** of course you're using a timer; this is not amatuer hour where you kinda guess on the amount of time your coffee has been steeping or count by the commericals you've seen *** OVERSTEEPED coffee is BITTER, so don't do it... use a timer

...so once the timer goes off you'll complete the 'press' portion of your french press. You'll want to use about 12-15lbs of pressure; which is about the weight of your hand and arm slowing pushing the plunger down. PRO TIP: If the plunger is hard to press, your grind is too fine, and if it just drops to the bottom w/very little pressure your grind is too course

Once your plunger is at the bottom and the grind is 'pressed down'... immediately, but slowly pour the coffee into your coffee cups. Then, we want the sweetener to blend quickly and thoroghly, so as soon as the hot coffee hits the sugar we begin stirring VERY GENTLELY until it's well incorporated, which should only take a moment then we're going to add the whiskey to the cup....

To be continued....

 

The Whiskey(s): Almost all recipes called for Irish Whiskey. A few of them used only Bailey's, but there was no way in hell we were doing a STRONG coffee drink w/only liquor These drinks needed a strong 80 proof, and they were going to get it!!!

We found that the perfect balance of whiskey to 4oz of coffee in both of our favorites was 1 1/4 oz ... but which whiskey(s)???

So, during the course of the testing process, another area of surprise was the 'perfect' whiskey for the 'traditional' version of the drink.

Needless to say, my favorite Irish Whisky of all time is Midleton Very Rare; but at over $200/bottle it's probably not an ideal choice for using in a mixed drink. So, it was time to turn to the mainstream recommendations. Most recipes called for either Jameson or Tullamore DEW (TD), but I couldn't just stop there... so in sacrificing myself for the purpose of this project, I threw a few more into the mix.

During initial testing, I simply sampled the various coffees and whiskies pair together; no sugar, no cream, no Bailey's, etc.. My reasoning behind this was to truly find a great pairing it would be important to minimize the influence of other ingredients in the process, and if I was able to find a well balanced pairing of coffee and whiskey, it would leave me w/making minimal adjustments to the drink through the application of condiments such as sugar, cream, etc...

So the whiskies that were brought to the table of this event were as follows:

Jameson (original)
Tullamore DEW
Bushmills (original)
Greenspot
Yellowspot
Jameson 18
Bushmills 16

Okay, okay... I know those last 2 are a little high end, so before some of you blast the shit out of me for using a sipper on a mixed drink, stand by for just a second and just re-read the title (The BEST Irish Coffee)

*** Very little of the high end sippers was used in the testing process as they quickly proved to be ineffective in elevating the drinks beyond the level that was already present when using a quality Irish Whiskey ***
*** Also, I would like to reiterate, no Midleton Very Rare was used in the testing process... I just couldn't bring myself to it ***

Originally, I wasn't even thinking about trying the green or yellow spot whiskies in the drink. However, in the process of transitioning to the Gautemalan coffee as the favorite w/the other whiskies I started with, I remembered that both of the spots have some fruitiness to the them (particularly apple) and was curious if they'd enhance the flavor. The simple answer to this was NO... I'm normally not a fan of the 'spots'. I don't mind them, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find them or purchase them over one of the others. I do have them on hand as a novelty for folks to try if they'd like.

For those that don't know Jameson is a blended whiskey which leans a bit more to the pot still side of the house; it's a little more 'harsh' but consistent and 'expected' in how it tastes. In my younger years, I had many an Irish Car Bomb, and they were....


Bushmills, on the other hand, is also a blended whiskey... but it's much more of a malted whiskey and grain whiskey (blend) than Jameson and the grains are also sourced in a different region. The end product has a mild peatiness to it similar to a mild scotch. I really enjoy the Bushmills 16 as a sipper, it's very smooth and during its maturing stages, it spends its time in aging in a variety of casks acquiring more depth and color to the final product. In fact I prefer the Bushmills 16 over the Jameson 18; to me the Jameson 18 isn't much more refined than the standard Jameson (for the price) ... and like I said, neither made an improvement in final test product so they were removed from the roster quickly.

The standard Bushmills did okay and really wasn't bad. However, there were 2 other whiskies that out performed them when paired w/coffee.

Jameson did well; it performed as expected... it brought that smooth consisent flavor and its 'pot still burn' to the equation w/almost every coffee we tried, but the pairing of it and the guatemalan was very nice. When you added Jameson to the cup of HOT coffee, alcohol hitting the rising steam from the coffee IMMEDIATELY ended up in your face and lungs. You FELT them come together...

*** See this is some of the benefit of making and consuming drinks at home. When you get these types of drinks at the bar, they're good... but you miss out on so much of the process and experience (and end up paying more money for the same drink) ***

Jameson made it to the finals and ended up being the whiskey of choice in one of our final favorite recipes.

annnnd last but not least... Tullamore D.E.W.

So, I've had it before, but didn't remember it (at all); nothing about this whiskey gives me a wow or memorable experience when sipping on it. It's kinda, meh... However, many (and I mean many) of the recipes I found specified TD; several well known bar tenders said that TD was their go-to for Irish Coffees and other similar drinks. So, with that being said, I had to add it to the list and see where it landed...

I took a sip immediately after opening the bottle, and yuhp (still the same shrug your shoulders and walk off w/o any memory of the experience you just had kinda whiskey)... It's smooth and well blended, but just no depth, no real character aside from a light amouth of smoke (not peat) on the finish.

Buuuut, when I started adding it to coffee...

...it quickly became obvious why TD was specified in numerous recipes. It just worked!!!

Coffee and TD really seemed to compliment each other, and w/just those 2 ingredients paired up I found the need or desire for additional condiments within the drink to be minimal. Adding the sugar and cream would merely be providing some balance to the drink and smoothing out the final product rather than altering the flavor profiles or making the drink 'tolerable'...

With the final 'traditional' recipe, we found that the TD mixed perfectly w/the other 3 ingredients to provide a well-balanced and highly enjoyable after dinner drink

However, when used in the more common recipe (the wife's favorite) using Bailey's in the drink, for some reason we found the TD was competing w/the Bailey's and they were kinda fighting each other rather than complementing. So, for some reason, the sweetness of the wife's drink needed the stronger 'in your face' pot still punch that Jameson consistently provides to provide a well blended drink.

So, we essentially have 2 winners...

In the 'traditional' recipe w/coffee, brown sugar, and lightly whipped cream, Tullamore D.E.W. was the clear winner!!!!

In the more common recipe w/coffee, Bailey's, simple syrup, and lightly whipped cream, Jameson was the clear winner!!!


To be continued...

 

My dad always said he didn't mind that he wasn't born rich, but he was very disappointed I wasn't born rich.

 

I'll be interested to see these dropped in the TM cookbook when you have everything written the way you want it.

 

I must say I'm rather impressed with your dedication to finding the way to do what's right, not what's easy.

oops forgot to insert quotes @Tripleconpanna

 

4 day weekend starts now

 

Did you show them your piece and get a free coffee?

 

Probably his badge

 

It's a shield! @Jim LE 1301

 

That's an east coast thing... since he's from AZ, he's the proud owner of a badge

 

@War Machine

 

Security guards have badges, LEO's have shields.

 

If it can't stop a sword strike, it's a badge.

 

That's called robbery sir. A felony everywhere except California.

 

No no no. It’s just a discount code.

 

@TaquitoBandito



You're up late...

 

Lower back muscles have been bothering me for a few weeks. Finally went in today and they gave me a steroid shot. Unfortunately it seems to be stronger than the muscle relaxers.

gonna try to go back to sleep