Espresso Martini Drink: Lightning recipe with only 5 ingredients

coffee and vodka
Mix your own espresso martini: the coffee cocktail with history

Espresso martini is a legendary drink from the 90’s that is experiencing a revival in many bars. But what did an ominous supermodel have to do with its creation and how do you mix the drink yourself?

Who doesn’t know it: Friday evening, the mood is exuberant, the bar is full and your eyes are heavy as lead. What was still due to the fact that we celebrated the day before when we were students is now the result of a long working day. A sticky-sweet and extremely vulgar mix of vodka and Red Bull used to combat fatigue. But the vodka-E generation has come of age (or at least less vulgar), and with it, their tastes have changed for the better. Espresso martini is making a comeback. That’s a good thing, because it’s not only a liquid pick-me-up that tastes delicious, but also one that exudes far more style than cheap energy with junk vodka from half-heartedly cleaned plastic cups at a long-forgotten flat-rate party.

According to legend, at the end of the 80s, a then unknown but now probably world-famous model ordered a drink in London’s Fred’s Bar with the words: “Wake me up, and then fuck me up“, in English: Wake me up and knock me out. Dick Bradsell (May 4, 1959 to February 27, 2016), at the time bartender in the locality and one of the most famous cocktail mixers in Great Britain, took the lady at her word and created in the Follow the first espresso martini.The bartender tells the story in one go interview in person.

But nobody knows for sure if it’s really true. Rumor has it that the later supermodel was Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell, how GQ writes – but this is not confirmed. For Campbell and against Moss speaks that the two superstars separate four years. In 1989 Moss would have been 15 years old – unlikely (but not impossible in 1980s London) that Bradsell would have mixed her a cocktail. The inventor of the espresso martini never revealed who it was. True to the motto: what happens in my bar stays there.

Shot in the black: That’s in the espresso martini

As mysterious as the origin of the coffee cocktail may be, its success story is just as unique. In 2017, the espresso martini was the most ordered cocktail in Australia. The Aussies love the drink so much that they sell it in small cans in handy four-packs. Fans of the stimulant shell out around eight Australian dollars at the supermarket chain Asda for the deliciousness. In this country, lazy people have to go to Amazon to be able to buy a ready-brewed espresso martini.

Of course, a self-mixed espresso martini tastes better – and it has it all. Even the original ingredients tell a politically charged story: Bradsell uses for his version Vyborowa vodka from Poland. Why this vodka?

As the inventor explains, it was still frowned upon to use Russian vodka for mixing because of the East-West conflict at the end of the 1980s. It was more respectable to rely on Polish. Bradsell chose Wyborowa because it was more balanced and pure than other spirits. In addition to the vodka, you also need a martini for your espresso espresso, kaluha, sugar syrupice cubes, and the right thing Toolso a measuring cup, a cocktail shaker, the martini glasses and of course one espresso maker.

When choosing your coffee, go for a classic Italian espresso, such as the Om coffee Diamante. Experienced espresso drinkers freshly grind the beans and simmer them in the espresso maker if you don’t have one portafilter machine call their own.

Kaluha is a well-known rum-based coffee liqueur that tastes sweet and powerful.

When choosing sugar syrup, you should ideally choose a neutral variety such as Le Sirup de Monin.

The preparation

The preparation is not rocket science: First, cool the martini glass with ice cubes. After that, give it aloud International Bartender Association Ice cubes in the shaker and for each an espresso martini 50 milliliters (ml) of vodka, 30 ml of Kaluha, 10 ml of syrup and an espresso. Shake and separate the liquid from the ice by decanting. Remove the ice from the shaker and shake the cocktail again without ice in the shaker. Before the espresso martini finds its place in the martini glass, remove the ice cubes from those that cooled it. Put three coffee beans on the foam crown and the delicacy is ready.

The “wrong” martini

The espresso martini is by no means a real martini. But he lacks the dry French vermouth. It owes its name mainly to the triangular glass in which it is often served. By the way: With Kaluha and vodka they have almost all the ingredients for a White Russian. All that’s missing is the milk on top and you’re already enjoying the cult drink from the Dude from the film “The Big Lebowski”.

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Sources: theguardian.com, gq.co.uk, youtube.com , iba.com

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