Espresso Martinis (for a party)
While I tend to be a red wine and G&T drinker when it comes to alcohol, I also enjoy a nice cocktail. While most cocktails, in my view, tend to be oriented pre-meal or for snacks, sometimes a post dinner or dessert cocktail can be nice. That’s the optimal time, in my view, for an espresso martini.
To make a batch takes just a little bit of planning, but is super easy and the balance between pick-me up of coffee vs alcohol, the strength of the vodka and coffee vs sweetness of the Kahlua and syrup make for a lovely balance in my view. Most recently, we had this with a lovely banana pudding, the specialty of a dear friend, but would be outstanding with anything chocolate.
The “planning” is just thinking about it the day before as the cold brew coffee takes a bit of time, and it’s easier if all of our ingredients are cold at mixing.
When you use freshly brewed espresso and mix by hand with a shaker for individual drinks you can get a nice foam that is aesthetically pleasing, but doesn’t affect the taste much in my view, and replicating in bulk has been tricky for me to conquer. I’d rather have the simplicity and taste for my group than get hung up on aesthetics.
Espresso Martini (for a group)
Equipment
- Coffee filters – If you don't have coffee filters, a french press will work, as will cheese cloth. Anything that filters out the coffee grounds.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Espresso coffee, grounded. Ideally this is freshly ground, but there are lots of flavors here so don't let that slow you down.
- 4 cups Filtered water. Regular tap is probably fine too, just depends on how chloriny your water tastes.
- 2 cups Cold-brewed coffee from the above.
- 1 cup Vodka, ice cold. Use a good quality vodka, but that doesn't mean the one in hippest looking bottle. You are not drinking it straight afterall, and no one will see the bottle.
- 1/2 cup Coffee liqueor. Kahlua is the big dog in this hunt.
- 1/2 cup Simple Syrup See instructions if not on hand.
Instructions
- The day before, add 3/4 cups of ground (fresh if possible) coffee to a half gallon or similar sized jar. Add four cups of coffee and stir. Cover with plastic (mostly so the coffee smell doesn't completely take over the fridge) and place in fridge over night.
- If you don't have simple syrup on hand, it is very easy to make. Combine in a sauce pan one cup of sugar with one one cup of water, bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely incorporated. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, before transferring to a jar for refrigerator storage.
- Also, the day (or at least several hours) before cocktail hour, place the vodka in the freezer and the coffee liqueur in the fridge.
- When the coffee has brewed for at least 12 hours, drain into another container. You can strain directly through a coffee filter, but I find it easier and faster to strain through a normal fine kitchen strainer first to get the larger grounds, then strain through the filter second. Returned the strained coffee to the fridge until ready to mix.
- Chill the glasses you intend to serve the cocktails in.
- When ready to serve, 8 cocktails is approximately 2 cups coffee, 1 cup vodka, 1/2 coffee liqueur, and 1/2 cup simple syrup. Mix together and serve in cold glasses.
