Way back in 2021 it appeared that the espresso martini had its fifteen minutes of fame. Bartenders worldwide let out a sigh of relief when that wave crested as having good espresso on hand proved to be more trouble than it was worth.
Still, you can find coffee and booze on many a menu and a variation of the espresso martini is not an uncommon sight and you can make them at home quite easily.
The espresso martini is an invention of British celebrity bartender and cocktail innovator Dick Bradsell. As Bradsell tells it, a young soon-to-be famous model came to the bar at Fred’s Club he was working at in London in the late 1980’s and ordered something that would “wake me up and then…” Well, you can guess the rest.
Bradsell has never revealed the identity of the patron but rumor has it that young model was Kate Moss. Anyway, Bradsell’s innovation was not the first coffee and liquor cocktail.
Perhaps the most famous is Irish Coffee, usually some combination of Irish whiskey, hot coffee and heavy cream or even a little Irish cream, though that was not written on paper and codified until the 1950’s.
In the mid-nineteenth century the French called a mixture of spirits and coffee a gloria and a number of coffee cocktails show up on the menus of Viennese cafes starting as early as 1900.
One of these early cocktails was the Moretta fanese, a mixture of espresso, rum, brandy and anise liqueur served hot. The mixture is strong and sweet and warming. The drink comes from Fano, in the Italian Province of Pesaro and Urbino.
Though best enjoyed on a cold afternoon or as a digestif after a full dinner of grilled fish the drink may have originated as a way for the fishermen of the area to give themselves a boost on the job.
Below we have two recipes. One to warm your bones like an Italian fisherman and the other is a take on American bartender and author Jeffrey Morganthaler’s espresso martini that substitutes cold brew for espresso.
Ingredients:
•one ounce cold brew concentrate
•one ounce 100 proof vodka
•one ounce coffee liqueur
•lemon peel
•coffee beans for garnish
Directions:
Combine the liquids into a cocktail shaker with ice. Express the lemon peel into the shaker and shake the mixture. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with three coffee beans.
Ingredients:
•0.3 ounces of brandy
•0.3 ounces of rum
•0.7 ounces of anise liqueur
•one shot of freshly brewed espresso
•lemon or orange peel
•a spoonful of sugar
Directions:
Carefully muddle the peel and sugar in a cup. Combine the rum, brandy and anise in the cup. Heat the cup and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour in your espresso.
