Why just serve coffee after dinner?
‘Tis the season for festive dinner parties; gathering all of your friends over for an evening of fabulous food and festive frivolities; and what better way to keep the party going and impress your guests than by serving them a delicious Espresso Martini?
Since my trip to Le Logis in France with Grey Goose earlier this year, the Espresso Martini has been my go-to drink, and now as Charlie and I start to host more parties at our house to catch up with friends during the festive season, I’ve mastered the art of creating them myself. It’s far more simple than you may think, requiring just three ingredients.
If you’ve not tried an Espresso Martini before, or want to experience quite possibly the best Espresso Martini in London, I’d recommend you visit the American Bar at The Savoy hotel in London, where the expert barmen are cocktail connoisseurs, and will happily share their secrets into making the best Espresso Martinis.
It’s as easy as 1,2,3…
Because the Espresso Martini consists of just three ingredients, it’s important that you choose the best quality. Infamously known as the world’s best tasting vodka, the original Grey Goose is the finest choice for your cocktail. Start with 1 and a half shots of the vodka into cocktail shaker, and then add 2 shots of coffee. I like to use my Nespresso machine and a classic but strong flavoured capsule to pre-make some espresso earlier in the day so that it has time to cool before it’s needed for cocktail preparation. Next, you can either use a good quality coffee liquor, or replace that with a sugar syrup, just 1 shot, and add this to the shaker.
Add some ice to your martini glasses to chill them, and then shake. Shaking is important; it gives the cocktail the creamy and smooth finish, so shake vigorously for up to a minute. Remove the ice from the martini glasses and pour in the cocktail mixture.
At The American Bar, we learnt a trick from the head barman; you can use a light misting of vodka to get rid of any bubbles on top of your cocktail – a handy tip if you want to take your cocktail presentation to the next level. Finish with three coffee beans on top for presentation, et voila! The perfect Espresso Martini!
My Top Tips!
Add a dash of heavy cream to the shaker before mixing to give the cocktail a creamy and thicker taste. Personally I love to do this when I’m offering guests an Espresso Martini and some small chocolates as a desert; it somehow feels a lot more satisfying! Just be sure to shake longer than you usually would as it takes more work to mix in the cream.
If you want to get that layer of white froth at the top, try shaking for longer – up to 90 seconds. The white froth balances against the dark black drink gives a very appealing look!
You can use either usual caffeinated or decaffeinated espresso for the cocktail, and the flavour won’t be altered much. I usually use caffeinated though to give everyone a bit of a ‘perk up’ after what is often a heavy meal of comfort food during the festive season!
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Have you ever tried creating your own Espresso Martini? If you’ve got any further tips, let me know in the comments below!
xoxo
Thank you to Grey Goose for sponsoring this post & to The Savoy London for hosting us and allowing us to shoot in your beautiful hotel!
