Coffee Liqueur Cocktails

Coffee liqueur is sweet, dark and around 20% ABV, and it does two things at once: it is the sugar in a drink and it is the coffee. That is why so few coffee cocktails need any other sweetener, and why adding one usually ruins them.

It divides cleanly into the creamy and the sharp. White Russians, Mudslides and Brown Cows lean on dairy and are dessert. An Espresso Martini goes the other way, cutting the liqueur with fresh espresso so the bitterness comes back.

For an Espresso Martini the espresso has to be hot and freshly pulled, and the drink has to be shaken hard. The foam on top is coffee crema emulsified by the shake, and cold coffee will not produce it.