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Finding the best coffee cocktails to pair with the Flavour Blaster coffee aroma
There is something about mixing alcohol and caffeine that's very stimulating to our brains and our senses. As a result, there are some great coffee cocktails available at the moment. Some classics you might be familiar with, but there’s always room for innovation.
The Espresso Martini
This drink, initially called a Vodka Espresso, was invented in 1983 at the Soho Brasserie by London bartender Dick Bradsel when a famous model entered the bar and asked him to make something that would "wake me up". It was originally served over ice in a rocks glass. However, he later changed the serving glass to a martini and changed the name to match.
Add 45ml of vodka to a cocktail shaker, then 20 ml of a sweet coffee liqueur and finally a freshly made, hot espresso coffee (around 30ml). Top up with ice and shake hard. Using a fine strainer, pour the drink into a pre-chilled martini glass and garnish it with three roast coffee beans.
The Irish Coffee
Invented in 1943 by Joe Sheridan, chef at Foynes Port, a terminal restaurant in Foynes airport near Limerick, Ireland. It's said Sheridan felt terrible for weary passengers whose transatlantic flight needed to return to the airport when the plane was already midway through the journey, so he made them the warm, whiskey-based drink to both comfort and revive them. He named it the Irish Coffee after one American passenger asked him, "Hey Buddy, is this Brazilian coffee?" "No," replied Joe, "that's Irish Coffee."
Warm up a heat-proof glass by adding boiled water, then pouring it away. Add 30ml of your Irish whiskey, 10 ml of 50/50 sugar syrup, and around 60ml of hot filter coffee to the glass and stir. Then float 30 ml of double cream over the top by pouring it onto the back of a cold, metal spoon that lightly touches the meniscus (the surface tension) of the drink. Again, garnish with three roasted coffee beans.
The Black Russian
In 1949, Gustave Tops created the Black Russian at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels to honour Perle Mesa, then US ambassador to Luxembourg. In the 1950s, when sweet, milky drinks were in vogue, the cream was added, and the White Russian was born. The White Russian became famous after The Dude,played by Jeff Bridges, drank them on screen in the 1998 film The Big Lebowski.
Add 50ml of vodka to a tumbler, then 20ml of coffee liqueur. Add chunky cubed ice and stir. Garnish the drink with a sail (a lemon and cherry skewered like a boat on a cocktail stick). To turn it into a White Russian, make half and half by mixing milk and cream to a 50/50 ratio and pour it over the top of the alcohol — where it should float — and garnish with a grating of nutmeg.
You could try modernising these classics by adding a coffee flavour aroma smoke-filled bubble or create a coffee twist on a different kind of classic cocktail.
The Cold Fashioned
Cold brew coffee is not only delicious but refreshing. It's made by percolating coffee in water and sleeping the mixture in a cool place overnight. It's a much nicer way to consume cold caffeine than making iced coffee because the steeping process creates a much more concentrated flavour, and being pre-chilled makes for less dilution from the ice.
An old-fashioned cocktail is a classic recipe of American whiskey, bitters, sugar and ice. It was made popular in the UK by the TV series Mad Men, but it has been a staple drink in America for the last century.
You can either use a cold brew coffee liqueur or buy or make your own cold brew. Either way, use a good, strong, peppery Rye American whiskey. Blend the liquid ingredients together into a tin or jug and slowly pour 10ml at a time over sugar and ice, stirring the drink as you go.
You could use the Flavour Blaster cloche with this serve, adding the coffee aroma into the glass lid directly so that when the customer opens it up, coffee-scented smoke billows out.
The Cafe Negroni
This cocktail relies on bittersweet ingredients. It's traditionally mixed in three equal parts of gin Italian red vermouth and the Italian orange bitter liqueur, Campari. So replace the gin with a bitter coffee liqueur rather than a sweet one. Look for dark roasted or green coffee bean infusions on a spirit base with low quantities or no added sugar.
As liqueurs tend to have a lower ABV, this is an excellent alternative to the punchy gin version if you're looking for a low alcohol cocktail. Mix 35ml of coffee liqueur with 25ml each of Campari and Italian vermouth in a rocks glass, add some good chunky ice, stir and serve with an orange wedge.
The Flavour Blaster glassware with lids would be perfect for this serve. Just add the drink to the glass, billow some aromatic coffee smoke over the glass, and trap it ready to serve with the fitted lid.
The Coffee Spritz
Another lighter cocktail is the spritzer. Traditionally a combination of wine and a lengthener like soda water or lemonade or enjoyed as a liqueur and wine in iconic mixes like the Aperol Spritz. So you could either add coffee liqueur to wine or, for a lower abv alternative, you can just replace the wine with coffee liqueur and use any carbonated lengthener you like, such as tonic water or light, sparkling wine.
And 30mls of the liqueur to a large wineglass, fill up the glass with ice and add your carbonated soda, tonic or wine to the top of the glass.
This cocktail is ripe for a smoke-filled coffee bubble. Using our instructional videos to set up your Flavour Blaster, create a bubble to balance on the rim of the glass.
