Espresso Martinis are a Lie
The espresso martini is quickly becoming the go-to cocktail at bars. But is it really an espresso martini? Or are the using cold brewed coffee? What’s the difference? And is cold brew really the ideal way to make coffee? It’s a caffeine-fueled episode of Agave Road Trip!
Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank and Aaron Campos of Dark Matter Coffee.
Episode Notes
Shout out in this episode to Four Loko!
Road-tripper Cole Youngner checked in to say, “Thoughts from a cocktail bartender perspective on the espresso martini: 1) The name is a bit of a misnomer as there isn’t actually vermouth in it like the classic martini - the modern classic espresso martini original recipe from Dick Bradsell was four ingredients: vodka, espresso, sugar (in the form of simple or some kinda rich syrup), and coffee liqueur. 2) Why the espresso martini works is the espresso plays both role of bitters and acid which balanced out the sugar and liqueur’s sweetness and imparts flavor into the vodka. 3) All that said, Mezcal and coffee are huge flavor pals. Mezcal is amazing in an espresso martini in place of the vodka. I recommend the Galliano Espresso liqueur with it or Caffè Borghetti.” I love all of that, but most especially that the Espresso Martini is neither espresso nor is it a martini!
That’s Aaron on the left. Jesse Diaz, founder and owner of Dark Matter Coffee, is on the right. This is from a trip we took together to Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico, searching for delicious cacao and coffee. You can take from the placement of those cacao pods whatever you will — but I’ll say that I’ll have Jesse on the podcast when I feel like I can keep up with him conversationally.
Dark Matter’s Vanilla Suburbs
For the cover of this episode, we filled that martini glass (plastic, really) with Dark Matter’s Vanilla Suburbs cold coffee, on nitro. It had a beautiful, creamy head that looked delicious. And I’ve always liked Vanilla Suburbs — at least as much as I’ve liked any coffee. But in that glass? (Or plastic?) Better than ever, which makes me think that the shape of the vessel from which you drink coffee matters as much as the vessel from which you drink agave spirits.
I’ll also say that we took that shot around 1pm, and I don’t normally drink coffee after 9am. But I finished that glass. (Plastic.) And it’s 3am as I type this. So what Aaron says in the episode about the additional punch of caffeine? I’ll testify to that.