How Does Coffee Extraction Shape an Espresso Martini?

The Espresso Martini was created in London in the 1980s by bartender Dick Bradsell at the Soho Brasserie, after a guest asked for a drink that would wake her up and relax her at once. Espresso makes up about one-third of the cocktail, so its extraction and flavor decide how the finished drink tastes.

The recipe needs a properly pulled espresso, a base spirit such as vodka, and often a coffee liqueur, plus ice and steady shaking to build the foam. Because the coffee carries so much of the drink, grind size, dose, and shot time matter as much as the spirit. This liqueur coffee style rewards care at the espresso machine.

The Espresso Martini is a classic cocktail that cleverly blends espresso with spirits, and it has taken the world by storm since its creation in London in the 1980s. Though the drink appears to have simple ingredients, it actually places extremely high demands on the quality of the espresso and the skill of the bartender. Espresso makes up about one-third of the entire drink, so the coffee's extraction method and flavor profile will directly affect the final taste. This article will take you through the origin story of this legendary cocktail, break down in detail the base spirits and tools needed for making it, and share how to extract an espresso suitable for mixing drinks, helping you find your own balance point in this beverage that is both refreshing and slightly intoxicating.

However, it should be noted that this cocktail is not the same as what we typically think of as a Martini, and the reason lies in its inclusion of espresso. Moreover, espresso accounts for a considerable proportion of this drink, so the quality of the coffee itself will directly determine the overall performance of the cocktail. It is precisely for this reason that making this cocktail is both easy and tricky—easy because the ingredients needed are not hard to find, and tricky because it greatly tests the bartender's ability to control different elements.

So this winter, let us get a little tipsy for a moment and get to know the cocktail known as the world's most refreshing—the Coffee Martini.

Coffee Martini (Espresso Martini)

The Coffee Martini, also known as the Espresso Martini, is a new-generation cocktail derived from the Martini. It was born in London, England, in the 1980s, at a bar called Soho Brasserie (which is still in operation today), and its creator was the then-famous bartender Dick Bradsell.

According to the recollection of Dick's daughter Bea, the birth of this drink came about one night in the 1980s when a supermodel walked into the bar and ordered a cocktail from the bartender Dick. But her request was rather special—she wanted to stay sober while also getting drunk (the original words were: wake me up, then fxxk me up.). In more ordinary terms, it was probably like wanting a kind of colorful black. Coincidentally, the bar had just installed an espresso machine at the time, and it was set up right next to the bar counter. So Dick had a flash of inspiration, mixed espresso and vodka together, then added coffee liqueur and syrup to balance the flavor, and thus a cocktail that could both refresh and slightly intoxicate was born.

After that, the Coffee Martini quickly became famous far and wide. Every year, a large number of tourists make special trips to this bar just to taste this cocktail with its unique character. Interestingly, although the Coffee Martini was born in London, because many bars in Australia evolved from coffee shops themselves, this drink unexpectedly became an extremely popular cocktail there. Although the ingredients of this cocktail do not look complicated, for bartenders it is definitely a challenge not to be underestimated. Because espresso accounts for as much as one-third of the glass, the quality of the coffee will greatly influence the flavor direction of the entire cocktail.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.