However, when mentioning Dublin, the most well-known aspect for tourists is probably the Irish stout. Almost all Irish pubs feature its golden harp logo in their decor. The Irish people's love for stout greatly exceeded my expectations. However, my first visit to a pub in Ireland was not to a famous tourist-heavy bar, but to a small pub called Cobberstone in the west side of Dublin. The reason for going to this pub was the same as my reason for coming to Ireland, which was at the invitation of Professor Diamond.
Like many small pubs scattered throughout Ireland, Cobberstone has an old facade, a wooden bar, a long corner sofa, two long tables, and four or five round tables, accommodating about forty to fifty people at most. Unlike many large bars that have dedicated performance stages, this pub only has a sign saying "Reserved for musicians" on the corner sofa, which serves as a special seat for musicians during performances. Professor Diamond told me that he grew up in the neighborhood near this pub, and the regular customers today are his old neighbors from back then. Even after moving away due to work changes, he has not severed his connection with this pub.
In Ireland, almost everyone has a pub they refer to as their "local pub." Dressed casually, couples, families, and even parents with children walk in as if visiting a neighbor, greet the bartender with a smile, order a pint of stout, chat for a few minutes, greet acquaintances, joke around, and stay for about twenty to thirty minutes before leaving.
That night at Cobberstone, I was asked by at least five or six people where I was from. I was curious, and when an older lady asked me, I pointed to a young man sitting on a barstool across from me and asked why everyone was asking me and not him. The lady laughed and looked at me with a childlike, adorable expression, saying, "Because I watched him grow up, haha, everyone here knows each other, and you are the only stranger!" At that moment, I finally understood the role of the pub as a social center in the lives of the Irish people.
The famous Temple Bar is located in the heart of the Temple Bar district on the south bank of the River Liffey in Dublin, with its bright red doors and exterior walls, making it very eye-catching. Unlike the relaxed and neighborly atmosphere of small pubs, it is large, accommodating about two to three hundred people, and the patrons are mostly tourists drawn by its reputation, creating a much louder and more bustling atmosphere, often making it hard to find a seat during peak hours.
In fact, after many attempts to find Irish coffee in cafes in Ireland without success, I was beginning to think that Irish coffee was just a beautiful lie by the author Cai. However, I finally saw a bartender carefully preparing a cup of Irish coffee here.
Irish coffee is a drink made by slowly heating pure Irish whiskey over an alcohol lamp, evaporating most of the alcohol, then mixing it with freshly brewed hot coffee, and finally topping it with cold cream. Compared to coffee, its preparation is more like a mixed drink. The bartender told me that the quality of the coffee is not important as long as it is freshly brewed; what matters is that the whiskey must be authentic, and it must be whiskey produced in Ireland. I suppose this is why Irish coffee is only sold in pubs—because cafes do not have a liquor license!