Irish Coffee At The Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog

It has been a while since I've done one of these post. No longer having the bartender's income has severely hampered by cocktail excursions. But yesterday afternoon, I was out with my friend Melvin down in the Financial District and we were doing a little bit of exploring. After visiting the unrecognizable Fraunces Tavern (54 Pearl Street, NYC), we decided to go around the corner to the highly celebrated Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog (30 Water Street, near Broad Street, NYC). 

Now I have been looking forward to checking out the Dead Rabbit since it was opened a little over two years ago, but I never found myself down in the Financial District. Luckily for me yesterday I was. I was not disappointed with what I saw.

Though the Dead Rabbit located in a narrow space, they utilize their space to the maximum. The ground floor bar space known as the Taproom made us feel as if we stepped back in time to the 19th century down to saw dust on the floor. Every seat was occupied in the Taproom and since we wanted to sit, we were directed to go up to the third floor bar known as the Occasional Room.

In between those two bar spaces is The Parlor. According to the Dead Rabbit's website:

Parlor focuses on small plates, communal punch, and 72 historically-accurate cocktails dreamed up by the nineteenth century’s most celebrated bartenders.

That room was closed to what seemed to be a private party. But it is definitely on the list of places to check out.

The Occasional Room was a very laid back space. It was cooled nicely via A/C and at the bar were two seats just waiting for us to sit in. The decor was amazing. I wish I had brought my camera with me to take a couple of snapshots. I could see how a public house in the Gangs of New York era New York City would have looked...minus the rough looking crowd.

Since we were in an Irish Pub, what better to have than an Irish Coffee. We were not disappointed. I've had a couple of Irish Coffees in my day, most of them just god awful. They were pretty much made with your standard coffee (more often old and burnt), Irish whiskey and milk. The ones we had at the Dead Rabbit were nothing of the sort.

While the coffee had a nice pour of Jameson's Irish Whiskey, it wasn't overpowering the rest of the ingredients. The whiskey blended nicely with the coffee and the whipped cream topping was silky smooth. The fresh ground nutmeg was the perfect way to top the cocktail. I had posted the following picture of the partly consumed Irish Coffee on my Instagram page and I immediately had a comment from my friend Amanda (@winenshine on Twitter) that simply said: The Best in the City... I can't argue with her.

The article Cup o' the Irish: The Perfect Irish Coffee from NYC's The Dead Rabbit by Kevin Sintumuang from GQ.com says the same thing. The article lists the following recipe for the Irish Coffee served at the Dead Rabbit:

Irish Coffee
3/4 ounce demerara sugar syrup*
1 1/2 ounce blended Irish whiskey
4 ounces coffee
freshly whipped cream**
grated nutmeg

Directions
Add hot water to a glass to warm it. Dump out the hot water. ("We want to pre-warm the glass, because the coffee underneath the cream has to be as hot as possible," says Muldoon.) Add liquid ingredients to the pre-warmed glass and stir. Top off with freshly whipped cream. Grate fresh nutmeg to garnish.

Mix one part hot water to one part demerara sugar.
** This is one of the most crucial parts of the recipe. Use heavy cream. Take a metal bowl and place that in a bigger bowl full of ice. Or fill your sink. Add the cream to the metal bowl and whisk the hell out of it. What you're looking for is a ropey consistency. "Once the bubbles disappear, you know you're done" says Muldoon. Always give it a few more whisks before pouring it over the coffee. And if plain ol' cream isn't doing it for you, add Baileys. "What we used to do, back in the day, is add a little Kahlua, or Bailey's, in the cream, just to give it a wee hint of something."

Now this isn't the first time I've had an Irish Coffee on my radar. I've been meaning to head over to the Pierre Hotel (2 East 61st Street at 5th Avenue, NYC) based on a recommendation from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men. And no trip to San Francisco would be complete without having a legendary Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe (2765 Hyde Street, San Francisco).

If you're ever in the Financial District, make your way to The Dead Rabbit. You won't be disappointed.

And if you want to find other highly recommended places in New York City to get an Irish Coffee, check out Zagat's NYC's Best for Irish Coffee listing.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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