I did that at my old bar and it's awesome. add a splash of Licor 43 in there and they'll keep coming back for more.
That's a great idea. I'm gonna try that
Hmmmmmm?
I did that at my old bar and it's awesome. add a splash of Licor 43 in there and they'll keep coming back for more.
That's a great idea. I'm gonna try that
Honestly I’d try it
Id try anything once!😗
Averna nice idea!
I’m a big fan of using both. Just a tiny bit of Amara to give bitter notes. I’ve made about a dozen variations of the espresso martini but my standard go to (and according to my wife, best espresso martini of all time) is: 2 oz vodka .75 oz Mr blacks .25 oz crème de cacao .25 oz cynar (can sub averna but I prefer Cuban for this) .25 oz baileys Shake with ice and a with a fresh pull of double shot espresso Garnish with cocoa powder
Sounds very interesting. I'd be curious to make a non-dairy version of it - have you found it relies on the Baileys? Which creme de cacao do you recommend?
What Philly bar is this?
That “s” in the top right looks like Sabrina’s. https://www.sabrinascafe.com/location/sabrinas-cafe-south-street/
This
Wait, how did you get Philly
I prefer subbing Averna for the vodka and leaving the coffee liqueur and espresso as is
Interesting. I’ve tried cognac and rum (Ham86) for the base but need to try this!
Second this
I enjoy a quarter of an ounce of Amari in mine
Why would they use a coffee-flavored liqeur when they're using actual espresso ?
Literally almost every recipe uses espresso along with Kahlua or Mr black
Liqueur adds a richness, depth of flavor and viscosity to an espresso martini. You absolutely can go without, but I think it makes a superior drink.
Depends what you’re going for. Coffee liqueur plus real coffee gives you a full hit of a coffee cocktail. Sometimes a one note full intensity cocktail is good and what you want, and this is probably the “traditional” way to do an espresso martini. Thats why you use vodka instead of another spirit because it doesn’t get in the way of pure coffee flavor. But it also can be nice to mix things up and add more complexity. There’s no wrong answer.
we also use averna in ours... 1.5 Supergay Vodka .75 Trader Vics Kona Coffee .25 Averna 1 Cold Brew 1d Mrs Bitters Better Cocktail Foamer
The Supergay!!! We bought a couple cases of this for Pride month with a Supergay drink special. I ended up explaining the jokey brand name and showing the bottle so many times that several of our regulars started requesting it in their drinks. It’s genius branding.
arguably they're using real espresso rather than espresso liqueur
Usually Espresso Martinis have both.
We use Nonino and coffee liqueur in ours. Delicious.
It's the future. More and more cocktail bars are subbing Kahlua for Averna, Cynar or Monty.
I do this a lot. It’s delicious
we do the same at my bar. it’s delicious
I do that all the time
Sounds like an improvement to me. The original is tasty, but it's a very one-note generic "coffee' flavour profile, which is what you'll get from Lavazza beans too, when coffee works so well with bitter and herbaceous flavours. I only keep a coffee liqueur around if I've made a batch myself (which I do when I've got a bunch of stale beans), but I've tried an espresso martini with Amaro Montenegro and it works really well.
I use Maletti instead of Vodka as my base at work. Constantly get told it's one of the best expresso martinis theyve had.
Maybe even a couple drops of chocolate bitters!! This sounds good!!!
Potay-toe, potah-toe. I also would try this and I'd recreate it at home but with two different ingredients replacing the averna just to really see which is best: first trial and I'm replacing it with Caffe Amaro from J. Rieger. Second trial and it's St. George NOLA coffee liqueur.
Montenegro works well too
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Sounds great. I always thought that the coffee liqueur paired with expresso was double dipping.
Local distillery in KC makes their own Amaro (J. Rieger Caffè Amaro) and uses it in their own take on the Espresso Martini, along with local cold brew coffee, Rieger vodka and Orgeat instead of simple syrup and Angostura bitters. It’s delicious.
Not uncommon to see it in place of the vodka (e.g., "italian espresso martini"), but interesting choice to see it in place of the liqueur. Sounds good!
At a place I was at right before the Pandemic 2019-2020, our house recipe for an Espresso Martini was as such:
1 1/2 oz Tito's Vodka 3/4 oz Averna 3/4 oz Simple 1 shot Espresso Shake/strain/rocks glass/3 coffee beans
Previous to that circa 2016, I used Averna it in my Mexican-themed one at Loyal Nine in Cambridge, MA, that got published in Punch that had besides Averna and espresso: tequila, cinnamon syrup, and molé bitters:
https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2025/04/espresso-mexicano-martini.html
It works! I’ll add a splash of Averna or licor 43 in mine to spice it up
If you have real coffee in there, you don't need an additional coffee liqueur. You can, but you don't have to.
They also use fresh espresso, so no harm done without the use of coffee liqueur. This bersion sounds delightful