Ingredients
- 1.5 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Espresso coffee
- 0.65 oz Coffee liqueur
- 2 Dash Saline solution*
Method
- Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker.
- Fine-strain into a chilled glass.
- Garnish with coffee beans/handful of flaked sea salt.
*Please note that adding the saline solution is optional. This is made by combining salt and water in a 4:1 ratio (e.g. 20g sea salt to 80g water).
Despite the fact that the Espresso Martini has about as much in common with the true Martini as I do Paul Mescal, one could be forgiven for speaking about both cocktails in the same breath. Certainly… if the measure of a drink’s influence is the sheer number of times that it’s ordered over an extended duration.
Just last year, hospitality tech services provider me&u calculated 59% of so-called ‘Martinis’ ordered in Australia were in fact of the coffee-tinged variety: clear proof that, at least by modern metrics, the Espresso Martini is what most drinkers’ minds run to whenever a bartender invokes the big M-word.
Beyond stating the obvious (Espresso Martinis are, in a word, delicious) one of the drink’s chief appeals is that it has, like so many other influential cocktails, a really fun and eminently quotable origin story.
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Created circa 1983 by Dick Bradsell, the oft-cited legend is that the legendary British barman designed the cocktail to cater to the very specific requests of a fashion model regular of his. According to Bradsell, this drinker (who many have incorrectly speculated to be Kate Moss) wanted a beverage that would “wake me up, then f**k me up.”
So, to be indelicate, the world’s fanciest riff on a Vodka Red Bull.
As with the various other cocktail recipes we’ve trialed over the past year, there’s nothing innately difficult about pulling together an Espresso Martini. However, it does pay to be a little detail orientated when you’re corralling together your ingredients — especially on the coffee front.
For this recipe, you have to employ freshly pulled espresso coffee. End of story. The emulsants present in this style (which are a by-product of how it’s brewed under pressure) are crucial to achieving the Espresso Martini’s silky foam top, and thus, its signature textural element.
As for the other key ingredients: a gently vanillin brand of high-quality vodka (e.g. Grey Goose) is basically all that’s required for base alcohol, while the coffee liqueur should have an element of sugar that’s is bittersweet rather than treacle.
For the latter, we usually turn to Mr. Black: an impressive award winner, made on the outskirts of Sydney. Nothing — and I mean nothing else — comes close.
If you’ve enjoyed this guide to the Espresso Martini, then why not check out some of our other classic cocktail recipes? Below we’ve compiled a few of our favourites to get you started:
