Or how I learned to stop worrying and love the basic
To my great shame, at my wedding reception in 2016, I was unable to get my own mother the cocktail she wanted. See, after dinner at Saint Germain (shoutout to that crew for pulling out the best last minute dinner x reception x wild party conceivable), all mommadukes wanted was a Kahlua and cream for dessert. We had cream, but were militant about making our own liqueurs unless they were maraschino, or French herbal. Alas, we had no coffee liqueur. This set me on a quest to develop a kickin’ coffee liqueur, and a killer espresso martini to match.
NB: don’t @ me with your favorite local coffee liqueurs…none of the good ones are available in Virginia, and mine is at least as good and definitely less expensive even if they are.
Coffee Liqueur
- 2 parts (750ml) Plantation 5 star rum
- 1 part (375ml) demerara simple syrup
- 1 part (375ml) GOOD cold brew. Seriously, either make it yourself with solid beans, or sweet talk your local coffee shop, but the coffee is going to shine through the most, and it needs to be STRONG
Combine it all in a neutral container, and stir to incorporate. Depending on your superstitions about liquids “marrying” over time, let rest for a few hours. If you like a little funk in your junk, I will occasionally add a teaspoon or so of Smith & Cross or an older Appleton expression per liter. Resultant product is about 13 brix and 20% ABV – shelf stable and in line with Kahlua…just way better tasting.
Pictured: My dear friend Jared Sadoian enjoying an espresso martini at the excellent Matilde Mi Amor in Guadalajara. They do not use my liqueur, but when we search our Google photos for “espresso martini” we take what we get.
Espresso Martini
- 1.5 oz decent vodka (I prefer EU vodka all the time, and wheat vodka specifically in this)
- 1 oz coffee liqueur
- 1 oz espresso (or strong cold brew, as long as it’s an oil heavy extraction)
- .5 oz 1:1 demerara gum syrup (I realize I could just up the sugar in the coffee liqueur, but that would make the recipe more complicated and make it worse for other recipes)
Combine all ingredients in a tin, shake HARD with ice, strain into a chilled coupe.