We both went to university in London, where we were subject to perhaps the highest price in the country, £1.50, for the student staple drink of the time – a Vodbull. This powerfully aromatic and sticky mixture of vodka and Red Bull fuelled many of our nights. Of course now, as responsible and classy young professionals, we would never drink that again. We’ve moved on. Presenting: The Espresso Martini.
The Espresso Martini is a seemingly simple blend of espresso and vodka, usually with something to sweeten it up a little. So, if you want to get it perfect, each component needs to be just right. We’ve done plenty of testing, and here's what we found.
Espresso
To put it simply, buy or make the very best espresso you can – for the intense flavour and crema. Arguably the quality of the espresso matters less in this mix than if you’re drinking it neat, but if you want this to be perfect, don’t scrimp. If you’re having this later in the evening, we wouldn’t blame you for choosing decaf. However, instant coffee is a no-go. We’d also recommend letting it cool a little, as if it’s piping hot it will melt the ice faster and dilute it.
Vodka
We tried a range of vodkas, including Fair’s Quinoa Vodka (their coffee liqueur is excellent, as we’ll come to). We ultimately went for vanilla vodka, as this provides a lovely roundness to the final drink, whilst maintaining simplicity. Cariel has an undoubtedly wonderful vanilla aroma, but we found Absolut Vanilla smoother, and then supplemented it with a little extra vanilla extract. It’s worth splashing out on vanilla extract – you only need a little, and the taste is a million miles away from cheaper vanilla essences.
Sweetener
We’d love to agree with the purist recipes that suggest sugar is all that’s needed to complement high quality espresso and vodka. However, the coffee liqueur adds some roundness and smoothness. We taste tested Fair’s Coffee Liqueur against the more traditional Kahlua. There’s no competition. In fact, I sent a mass-message out to my contacts asking if anyone wants an almost full bottle of Kahlua after this taste. The Fair liqueur instantly smells like real coffee (it even has a caffeine warning); it’s smooth, delicately sweet, and delicious. Meanwhile the Kahlua is syrupy with a barely noticeable synthetic coffee flavour.
We also add a dash of sugar syrup for good measure.
The method
We have our perfect core ingredients, but the recipes we came across were all over the place in terms of the proportions. We think our creation is a sophisticated balance that allows you to fully taste the coffee, has enough sweetness to make you quickly want another, and enough vodka to stop you after the second.
For one serving, you will need:
· Cocktail shaker
· Martini glass
· 35ml best quality, fresh espresso, brought to room temperature
· 45ml Fair coffee liqueur (seek it out, it’s worth it)
· 25ml ‘Absolut Vanilia’ Vanilla vodka
· 15ml sugar syrup – make it yourself by mixing together a 60:40 blend of caster sugar to boiling water from the kettle
· ¼ teaspoon of high-quality vanilla extract (if you’re not using vanilla vodka, then increase this to half a teaspoon)
· A generous handful of ice
Simply shake all of the ingredients (except the glass) together in the cocktail shaker well – around 30 seconds. Strain into a martini glass.
The traditional garnish is three whole espresso beans. We like the pure, smooth look of no garnish at all. Taste wise, a fine grating of 100% cocoa chocolate was very nice. We’ll leave it up to you, but we suggest keeping it simple.
Stay salty af,
Anika and Fleurie
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