BAR WON · CLASSIC COCKTAIL
Espresso Martini
฿480
Dick Bradsell built this one at Fred's Club in Soho in the late eighties, and it has refused to leave the bar since. The Consul's version swaps the usual base: Matusalem 7Y Rum and Tia Maria carry the spirit side, with fresh espresso and a touch of sugar doing the rest.
Matusalem 7Y, a Dominican rum aged seven years.
Tia Maria, coffee liqueur built on Jamaican rum.
Fresh espresso, shaken hard for the foam.
Sugar, to keep the bitterness in check.
Off-dry, low bitterness, 18% ABV.
How it is made
Espresso, rum, coffee liqueur and sugar go into a shaker with ice and get shaken hard — the coffee's own oils and the sugar are what build the pale crema on top, not cream. It is a drink that lives or dies on the freshness of the shot, which is why the good versions are made to order rather than batched.
How it tastes
Roasted coffee first, then the rum's vanilla and dried fruit underneath, with the Tia Maria thickening the middle. Off-dry rather than sweet, and the bitterness sits low — coffee bitter, not tonic bitter. The texture is the point: light, aerated, almost mousse-like on the first sip.
Good to know
The drink was reportedly born when a model asked Bradsell for something that would "wake me up and fuck me up" — his words, and the line has followed the cocktail ever since. Three coffee beans on top is the standard garnish, a nod to an old Italian toast: health, wealth and happiness.
Contains alcohol.
Ingredients: Matusalem 7Y Rum, Tia Maria, Espresso, Sugar
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