25th January: National Irish Coffee Day

It's National Irish Coffee Day. Here's what you need to know about Irish coffee.

1. Irish coffee is made by pouring black Coffee into a mug or glass, stirring in Whiskey and at least a level teaspoon of sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Thick cream is then poured on top and the coffee is drunk through the cream.
2. Don't like sugar in coffee? Sorry, but without the sugar the cream won't float on top.
3. The original recipe states that the cream should not be whipped, but versions using whipped cream are also sold as Irish coffee.
4. The origin of Irish coffee is thought to have been in 1942, when a planeload of American passengers were stranded due to bad weather, and airport restaurant chef Joe Sheridan served hot coffee with whiskey in it to warm to passengers up. One passenger asked if it was Brazilian coffee, to which Sheridan remarked, “No, that was Irish Coffee!”
5. It was another ten years before Irish coffee found its way to the USA. The first cafe to serve it there was the Buena Vista cafe in San Francisco, California in 1952.
6. The same cafe held the Guinness Record for the largest Irish coffee, 15 gallons, for some time, but in January 2017 that record was smashed by a Chicago restaurant where a 234 gallon Irish coffee was made. The entire operation was supervised by Tim Herlihy, an Irishman from the town of Termonfeckin in Ireland. The recipe called for five pounds of sugar, 28 gallons of cream, 150 gallons of coffee and 43 gallons of Tullamore Dew whiskey. They needed fourteen burners in four kitchens to boil all the water. The glass was made by an aquarium tank company in Las Vegas and took two hours to fill with the equivalent of 3,500 standard Irish coffees. It was then drunk by a couple of thousand customers who paid a dollar for a standard sized share, in aid of a children's cancer charity.
7. There is an annual Irish coffee festival which takes place in Foynes, a village on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The event includes the World Irish Coffee Making Championship, parades, Fireworks and entertainment.
8. National Irish Coffee Day is on 25 January each year.
9. Not everyone likes it - someone once commented that the problem with Irish coffee is that it ruins three good drinks: coffee, cream, and whiskey.
10. According to Alex Levin, though, only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.

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Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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