What I discovered this weekend, in sampling way too many coffee cocktails, is that the creamier, frothier, sweeter martini-style drinks that I love are OUT, passé, done!

• What’s popular, instead, are boozier, stirred drinks frequently made with Cynar, Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur and cold-brew coffee.
• Based on this new style of coffee drink, I can see why coffee cocktails have been slower to be adopted than I had anticipated.
• Two years ago, when I first wrote about the comeback of coffee cocktails, I did not have such a stiff drink in mind.
• But big congrats to Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur.  Everything about this Australian brand is impressive from product to packaging to marketing and distribution. The brand is in every bar in downtown Manhattan. They’re clearly on the forefront of this new style of coffee cocktailing.

Read on below for more on some of the top spots serving coffee cocktails.

 

WHERE YOU’LL FIND THESE NEW COFFEE COCKTAILS:

 

UNDERDOG BAR (50 Stone Street, FiDi)

I ordered the Coffey Martini made with Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey, Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur, Cynar, Lemon Zest.  Although it gets rave reviews in the press, I give it 2-STARS!

 

 

MOTHER’S RUIN (18 Spring Street)

I ordered the Get Stuffed, another boozy concoction made with bourbon, bitters, Lillet Rouge, and Mr. Black Coffee. 2-STARS

 

10 CORSO COMO CAFE (1 Fulton Street)

5-STARS!!

 

 

Loved this espresso martini. Not sure what’s in it besides Grey Goose Vanilla Vodka but it was creamy and a little sweet and totally delicious.

Cannot wait to come back here this week for dinner and have this cocktail for dessert! And I’ll ask exactly what’s in it.

 

Other places recommended for their coffee cocktails:

THE OWL’S TAIL (215 West 75^th Street)

Recently opened and serving 2 coffee cocktails:

Take Me to Church

• Lot 40 rye, lemon, coffee essence, mole bitters, cassia, demerara (dark rum from Guyana)

Espresso Guinness Martini (This is their top seller)

•  Tito’s, Guinness, Tia Maria, espresso, walnut liqueur, mole bitters

 

THE NOMAD (1170 Broadway)

Renowned for their extensive coffee cocktail menu – I haven’t been here recently but am curious to try a few of these.

• The NoMad cocktail program was started as a backlash to the frothy Espresso Martinis I’m so partial to.
• The NoMad bartenders preferred to create boozy, stirred drinks that would play well with coffee as one of the modifying ingredients.

Examples include:

Honi Honi: 

• Bourbon, rye whiskey, orgeat, lime, coffee-infused noilly prat, dry curacao, banana liqueur, mint

Vazquez Daiquiri

• Barbados Dark Rum, Lime, Creme de cacao, caffe moka

Pico & Robertson

• Coconut-infused bourbon, punt e mes vermouth, yellow chartreuse, chambery dry vermouth blanc, cold brew

 

SLOWLY SHIRLEY (121 West 10^th Street)

Bartenders here are experimenting with coffee as a “bittering agent”—as in the Black & Gold, which mixes Cynar and rum with whole coffee beans for a bitter edge.

And there’s the Tahitian Coffee (for 2) which is made from rum, pisco, cold brew concentrate, house falernum, honey, guava, passion fruit, orange, lime, Plantation Barbados rum, and Campo de Encanto pisco

 

BACKSTORY ON THE COFFEE COCKTAIL

In 1983 at Soho Brasserie, London mixology legend Dick Bradsell created the Espresso Martini, a vodka-based drink.

• The story goes that a customer requested a drink that would “wake her up and f—k her up.
• The drink went through a few iterations, but it peaked during the 1990s—the age of anything in a martini glass.
• Unlike most of the coffee cocktail forerunners, the Espresso Martini is particularly notable because it’s served chilled, even though it’s made with hot espresso (along with vodka and Kahlua coffee liqueur).

 

Bottom Line.

Now that I understand that the coffee cocktail comeback is rooted in boozy, stirred drinks vs. the fun, frothy, delicious concoctions I’ve been craving, I’m betting this coffee trend will take a lot longer to catch on. And it won’t be served in a martini glass. (Sigh)