05/09/2026
Last-minute date plans had me at Verdigris. The stArt Coffee Espresso Martini Takeover. I went in planning to drink one thing and ended up drinking two.
The Espresso Martini first. It's a relatively young drink as cocktails go — London, 1983, Dick Bradsell at the Soho Brasserie. The story goes a young model walked up to the bar and asked for something to wake her up and then put her to sleep. Bradsell reached for vodka, fresh espresso, coffee liqueur, and sugar syrup, shook it hard over ice, and strained it into a coupe. The foam on top — that three-bean float — became the signature. For two decades it was considered a relic. Then somewhere around 2020 it came roaring back, and it hasn't stopped since. When it's made with serious coffee, which is the only way it should be made, it earns every bit of the revival.
Then the Carajillo. I was TYO when I learned about the Carajillo, the second coffee cocktail. This one has roots that run deeper and farther. Spain by way of Cuba — the word itself likely derived from coraje, courage, which is what Spanish soldiers allegedly added to their coffee before heading into battle. Hot coffee, a shot of spirit — traditionally brandy or rum, sometimes anise — taken together as one.
The modern Carajillo most people encounter in Mexico and across the American Southwest is built around Licor 43 — a Spanish liqueur made from citrus, fruits, and vanilla, softened with espresso poured over ice. It's cooler, sweeter, and more seductive than its ancestor. Less battlefield, more late evening on a warm patio.
Two cocktails built around coffee. Two completely different philosophies about what coffee can do in a glass.
Stay sharp, KC ☾
