Espresso Martini
on Sep 23, 2022, Updated Oct 04, 2024
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This famous cocktail was apparently invented to wake you up and "bleep" you up!
The espresso martini started gaining traction in the 1980s and was a bar scene staple by the ’90s (its alter ego cocktail, the Cosmo, was racing up the charts at the same time!). The drink was invented by renowned British bartender Dick Bradsell in London at a restaurant called Fred’s Club. The story goes that a top model asked Bradsell for a drink that would “wake me up and *F* me up at the same time.” The boozy caffeinated result: the espresso martini. Now it’s a modern classic! And having a bit of a renaissance these days — in NYC, I see menus all over promising “the best espresso martini in town.”
Go for broke and pair this cocktail with something sweet for dessert, like Salted Caramel Brownies, Devil’s Food Cake, or Best One-Pot Fudgy Brownies.
Table of Contents
Espresso Martini: This drink was apparently invented to wake you up, and “bleep” you up! Creamy, smooth, boozy, and packing a caffeine kick.
Ingredients
- Coffee liqueur – Kahlua is the most commonly used coffee liquor, and there is a whole lot out there to choose from. Tia Maria is another popular and readily available coffee liqueur brand.
- Chilled espresso coffee – Any espresso coffee will work, as long as you don’t use powder. See the note in variations for more information.
- Vodka – This clear liquor allows the coffee flavor of the drink to shine through.
- Simple syrup – A nice amount of sweetness rounds out the bitterness from the coffee.
- Orange peel – For garnish. A canelle (or channel) knife is something a lot of bartenders use to make perfect orange peel curls. It’s a small kitchen tool with a V-shaped blade that creates nice, substantial orange zest curls. You can also use a vegetable peeler or a paring knife.
- Coffee beans – The traditional garnish.
Variations
Most classic martinis call for vodka or gin, but the strong flavors of the coffee and the coffee liqueur are well suited to a brown liquor as the base. You can choose whichever spirit, such as whiskey or Cognac, you’d like to use to give your martini some kick.
How to Make an Espresso Martini
- Pour the ingredients: Pour the vodka, coffee liqueur, espresso, and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
- Mix the cocktail: Shake the cocktail well until the shaker is very cold and frothy.
- Serve: Strain into a martini glass and garnish with an orange zest strip and coffee beans.
The Best Espresso for Martinis
There are many different routes you can take for the espresso base of this drink. Sometimes, mixologists use a cold brew concentrate, like the one from La Colombe or Starbucks, and that’s what I used. Skip powdered espresso for this drink, which just won’t have the same level of flavor and quality. And while I might try this with decaf coffee for myself, I don’t know that anyone else would see the point of a decaf espresso martini.
Otherwise, you can pick up an iced espresso from your favorite coffee shop or buy premade espresso at a grocery store or online. If you have an espresso machine and can make your own espresso, that’s awesome. Just make sure you have time to chill the espresso so that it’s very cold before mixing it with the other cocktail ingredients. If you want to speed up the coffee chilling process, just put it in the freezer!
How to Chill Martini Glasses
Since all martinis, especially an espresso martini, are best when served very cold, it’s nice to chill your glasses first.
- You can do this by putting them in the freezer or the fridge, whichever you have room for; 15 to 30 minutes is plenty of time to get your glasses nice and chilled.
- Alternatively, if you are short on time, you can fill your cocktail glass with ice while mixing the drink to give it a quick chill and then dump it just before pouring in the drink.
FAQs
The frothiness in an espresso martini comes from a lot of shaking in a chilled cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. You want to shake the dickens out of the martini. This will not only chill the drink thoroughly (very important), but it also creates that nice frothy foam on top. Pour the cocktail into the glass and serve it quickly after you finish shaking it up to get the nicest foamy layer. The shaking will also give the cocktail a creamy texture.
A common garnish for an espresso martini is coffee beans. You may notice that often, three coffee beans are floating around on top of your cocktail. This is because, in Italy, an anise-flavored liqueur called Sambuca was often served with three coffee beans in a little triangle shape, a symbol called La Mosca (“the fly”), representing health, wealth, and happiness.
How to Rim a Cocktail Glass
If you want to ramp up your presentation, nothing makes a drink look more “mixologist”-ey than rimming the glass with something fun and tasty that complements the cocktail. For an espresso martini, you can consider rimming the edges of the glass with finely grated chocolate shavings. Simply grate a few tablespoons of semisweet or dark chocolate onto a small plate using a Microplane or small-holed grater.
When you take the glass from the freezer, it should have some condensation on it, or you can dip the edges of the top of the glass into water, the coffee liqueur, or simple syrup. Then, roll the rim of the glass in the chocolate shavings until the chocolate reaches all around the edge. Shake the cocktail vigorously, fill the glass, garnish, and serve immediately.
Storage
You can mix the martinis (without ice to avoid overly diluting the drink) and store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 10 days. Then, before serving, shake it up in your cocktail mixer with ice to get the signature froth and make it extra cold.
What to Serve With Espresso Martinis
More Cocktail Recipes:
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Espresso Martini
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) vodka
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) coffee liquor (such as Kahlua)
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) espresso (chilled)
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup (or to taste)
- Strip of orange zest and coffee beans (for garnish)
Instructions
- Chill 2 martini glasses first if possible (see Note).
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka, coffee liqueur, espresso, and simple syrup. Cover the shaker and shake vigorously until the cocktail is foamy and very cold, about 45 seconds.
- Strain into the martini glasses. Twist the orange zest strip over the drink and drape it over the glass. Float the coffee beans in the drink and serve immediately while the top is still frothy.
Cognac is mentioned but missing from the ingredient list.
sorry, it was meant to say vodka, which is in the ingredient list fixed now!