
EMILY: You’re not needed here, Lorelai. Go get your coffee, relax. You’re going to redo your makeup later, aren’t you?
LORELAI: Maybe an Irish coffee.
Irish coffee is an alcoholic drink consisting of Irish whiskey, hot coffee, and sugar, topped with cream. Although coffee and cream cocktails have been around since the 19th century, the modern recipe is attributed to Joe Sheridan, head chef at the coffee shop of Foynes Airbase flying boat terminal, in Limerick, Ireland. He added whiskey to passengers’ coffee around 1942 to give them a pick-me-up.
American travel writer Stanton Delaplane claimed to have brought Irish coffee to the US, after drinking it at Shannon Airport, 15 miles from Foynes. Due to his influence it began to be served in San Francisco in 1952.
Lorelai jokes that because she has to put up with Emily, she’s going to need alcohol to relax, not just coffee.