Espresso Martini

By far, the most important part of this drink will be your choice of coffee and the quality of espresso you can create.

If you don’t happen to have an espresso machine at home, you can try Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s variation using Cold brew concentrate (see Related Cocktails).

We’ve tried this with coffee from a Moka Pot (Bialetti), following James Hoffman’s video on how to use it to the best of its ability. It's not the same because the Moka Pot cannot make espresso but it’s the closest you’re going to get without an espresso machine.

Be wary of how sweet your coffee liqueur is: Kahlúa and Tia María, for example, are very sweet and have chocolate notes. Other coffee liqueurs, like Mr. Black, are less sweet, and allow you to add simple syrup to taste.

You can make your own coffee liqueur using vodka, rum or brandy. This should allow you to experiment with other ingredients and flavors – for instance, you could add orange peels, or vanilla to your coffee liqueur which will add complexity to your Espresso Martini.

Citrus plays well with coffee, which is why the lemon twist is called for.

This cocktail was created in 1983 by Dick Bradsell, a British bartender who then worked at Soho Brasserie in London.

As the story goes, Bradsell made the drink for a customer who happened to be a top model and who asked for something that would “wake her up, and fuck her up”.

There was an Espresso machine by the bar, and vodka was a very popular spirit at the time, so he made her the drink which at the time he called a Vodka Espresso.

The Vodka Espresso later took the name Espresso Martini as drinks that were served in a Martini coupe ended up receiving a name with the word Martini in it.

Bradsell renamed the cocktail again to Pharmaceutical Stimulant (now serving it on the rocks) when he worked at the Pharmacy Restaurant in Notting Hill, England.