The things that can happen when a supermodel walks into your bar.
In a Glass
Ingredients: Vodka, Coffee liqueur, Espresso
Taste: Coffee, sweet, dessert
Alc. Strength: approx 15%
Garnish: Coffeebeans
Ice: none
Glass: Coupe
The Recipe
4cl Vodka
2cl Coffee liqueur
2cl Espresso
0.5cl Sugar syrup
Glass: Coupe
Ice: none
Garnish: Coffee beans
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice in a Shaker. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with Coffee beans, normally there are 3 beans in a triangle.
The Taste
Well, the taste, it’s an Espresso Martini, so it tastes foremost like Coffee, which doesn’t sound like that much, but if you consider the fact that coffee includes between 800 and 1000 different Aromas it’s maybe more complex in taste. So you have these classic Coffee Aromas like nutty, roasty, earthy or also fruity to floraly notes. The Vodka brings the body to this cocktail and shaken up with a foamy crown it’s more like a dessert.
The History
London, early 1980s, a Model walks in to a Bar, she takes place directly in front of the Bartender at the counter, she looks him deep in the eyes and says:”I need something that wakes me up and then fucks me up.” The Bartender mixes an Espresso Martini and serves it.
At least, that’s how the legend goes, and now let us take a closer look.
The Bartender that made the Espresso Martini is Dick Bradsell, a Bartender Legend he is responsible for many Cocktail creations like the Bramble, Summer Breeze or French Spring Punch.
So Dick Bradsell was working in London and at this time as he created the Espresso Martini, at that time, however, the cocktail was still called a Vodka Espresso. So he was working in Soho Brasserie, Old Compton Street and was mixing Vodka, Espresso and Sugarsyrup together and served it in a Tumbler with ice. If we are talking about the year there are two numbers most people say that the first Vodka Espresso went 1983 over the Counter, Bradsells Daughter Bea Bradsell contradicts because her father always associated its origins with the filming of David Bowie’s 1986 released movie “Absolute Beginners”, which drew many onlookers to Soho and into his bar. Mostly a Cocktail creation is anyway a process so we can say the creation took place sometimes between 1983 and 1985. Talking about the process of creating a cocktail, how was the evolution of the early 80’s Vodka Espresso to the now known Espresso Martini? The Drink was made to make a delicious dessert cocktail, the coffee machine was right next of Dick Bradsell and Vodka was the trend spirit in the 80’s, and because of the coffee machine there were always enough coffee beans for the Garnish, there should be 3 beans and they stand for Health, wealth and happiness. The time flies by and Mr. Bradsell still works on his cocktail, in the 1990 started the “Martini-Time” suddenly all kinds of Martinis like Appletini or Breakfast Martini were everywhere, the name Espresso Martini has started to catch on, now served in a V-Shaped Glass but also the recipe changed coffee liqueur was added.
Between 1998 and 2003 the Cocktail changed his name a third time as Bradsell worked at a new venue called Pharmacy, the Espresso Martini was designated as “Pharmaceutical Stimulant” on the Menu, but “Espresso Martini” has stood the test of time. 2004 Espresso Martini was one of the most sold cocktail at Salvatore Calabrese’s Bar “Salvatore at Fifty” although it wasn’t on the menu.
Things went quiet around the drink, but only briefly, it experienced its next heyday around the end of the 2010s, and is now still one of the Trend Cocktails in 2026.
My Take
4cl Vodka
2cl Coffee Liqueur
2cl Espresso
2ds Salt Solution
Glass: Coupe
Ice: none
Garnish: none
I’m gonna be honest, Espresso Martini is not my drink, not that i don’t like coffee more because i like coffee. Often when the recipe is discussed, everything is discussed, except the coffee. It doesn’t matter which vodka brand is in it or if you put 1.5cl or 2cl of Coffee Liqueur in your drink, if your Coffee is not measured and/or your Coffee is bad your drink isn’t gonna be it.
On the other hand coffee contains about 800 to 1000 different aromas, so why not use this, try your Espresso Martini once with a light roasted Arabica Espresso and your Espresso Martini will have a much fruitier, floraly and slightly acidical taste or try it with a 100% Robusta and you will have a much earthier Espresso Martini.
And with a good and fresh Coffee you will also have a better and stable foam because the foam comes out of the essential oils in the coffee.
Variants and relatives
Vodka Espresso
Vodka · Espresso · Sugar
If you like the Espresso Martini, than maybe you have to try:
Revolver:
Bourbon · Coffee Liqueur · Orange Bitters
Alexander:
Cognac · Crème de Cacao · Cream
White Russian:
Vodka · Coffee Liqueur · Cream
Some Facts just for fun
There is much speculation about the identity of the models; Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Marie Helvin are often linked to them but the identity was never confirmed.
Kate Moss was around 10 years old when the Vodka Espresso was created.
Naomi Campbell was around 14 years old when the Vodka Espresso was created.
Marie Helvin was around 32 years old when the Vodka Espresso was created.
But maybe there wasn’t a mysterious woman and it’s all just part of the Legend.
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