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By Elyse Glickman
When the holiday season rolls around, the appeal of hot cocktails and dessert-y drinks starts brewing — and that includes spirited beverages crafted with coffee. In fact, whether it’s hot or cold, coffee is becoming a popular ingredient on cocktail menus.
But does it make sense to create libations featuring the mighty bean in Mexican and Latin restaurants — the domain of Margaritas, Palomas, Mojitos, and Caipirinhas?
Considering some of the world’s finest coffees are sourced from Latin America, it makes perfect sense to brew up coffee cocktails that will generate a buzz at your bar not only this winter but all year through.
The Coffee-Spirits Connection
With the myriad liquors that pair well with coffee, you might wonder if the kind of brew used to create cocktails really matters.
Experts say yes. And they caution against reaching for just any kind of café, because the right beans, grinds and roasts can make all the difference.
“The assumption is that coffee is a ‘one-size-fits-all’ affair — but it shouldn’t be,” explains Ryan Castelaz, a barista, bartender and founder of Discourse, a company that operates pop-up coffee bars and private coffee events in and around Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “When coffee is referenced in most recipes outside of the craft coffee space, the ingredient called for is often listed just as ‘coffee,’ as if all coffee is created and brewed equal.”
Not all tequilas, mezcals and rums are created equal, after all; the same goes for coffee.
“The correct coffee or coffees can have an enormous impact on the profile of your drink,” Castelaz says. “While many coffees from a region or country may share similar characteristics, coffee, like wine, is largely a product of terroir. A high-altitude Colombian coffee will likely be crisp and clean with notes of citrus and flowers, while a lower altitude coffee may exhibit more caramel and toffee. When customers ask, I tell them I look for five primary things when I source coffee for drinks: freshness, origin, varietal, processing, and roast. Each of these five elements contribute greatly to the overall flavor profile of the coffee and determine the direction the drink will take.”
The bold, round flavors and medium-coarse grind of coffee from Chiapas “make a perfect mate for the robust, smokey character of a true mezcal,” says Castelaz, who uses Mexico Oaxaca or Chiapas espresso plus joven mezcal, simple syrup, fresh lime juice and saline solution in his Caffe Corretto.
For “gently sweet and quite refined” Peruvian Pisco (which, like brandy, is distilled from wine grapes), the clean florals of a high-altitude, medium-fine ground Peruvian coffee make a perfect pairing, he explains. His Darkest Peru made with Peruvian Pisco, Nitro Chicha Morada, Sous Vide Peruvian Coffee, and Smoked + Oaked Vanilla is one example of such a pairing.
For whiskey, Castelaz favors “the nutty, rich, sweet flavor of Brazil Minas Gerais.
“Maximize your extraction by grinding fine to coax out as much sweet, rich, nuttiness as you can, and complement with either a bourbon or a spicy rye whiskey,” he suggests.
Rum Agricole, with its dark chocolate and orange notes, works well when steeped on coarsely ground Guatemala Huehuetenango, then served on the rocks or in “funky tiki concoctions,” he adds, while gin pairs with the fruity, floral, citrus-y notes of a coarse-grind Colombia Cauca.
Restaurant Mixologists Weigh In
Understanding beans, grinds and roasts is important, of course. But how are mixologists on the front lines at Latin-themed restaurants incorporating that coffee education into the cocktails they’re crafting?
“I have been developing new coffee cocktails and leaning into some of the fruit flavor profiles you find in coffee,” explains Lynnette Marrero, bar manager at New York City-based Peruvian restaurant Llama Inn. “I did some work with Peruvian coffee this past summer and paired it with Lucuma, a very traditional fruit in Peru and Latin America. In the past, I made some cocktails that are riffs on classic espresso martinis. I also like to pair coffee and sherry, which is a great combination.”
One example is the Cafe Noir Marrero created using sherry, coconut liqueur, white rum-infused coffee, rum, and a flamed orange twist.
Luigi Bezzera, bartender at Maü Miami, suggests trying cold brew as a way to update an espresso martini. The Classic Espresso Martini at Maü Miami, for example, includes chilled coffee or espresso plus rum or bourbon, Tia Maria and Fernet Branca.
“Technically, you can make espresso with any coffee...I recommend infusing rum with coffee or using Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka, but you can also use bourbon as a replacement if the customer prefers brown spirits,” he says. “Creme de Cacao and Patron XO, of course, you could use as a variant. Either way, the coffee will chill down when mixed.”
The Baja-focused food menu at El Molino at the Chileno Bay Resort & Residences in Los Cabos, Mexico inspired beverage manager Osvaldo Vasquez to create the COMAL Espresso Martini just before the holiday season. The cocktail — which he introduced at El Molino and will add to the menu at the resort’s fine-dining restaurant COMAL — features a Chiapas coffee base along with Nixta Liqueur, an ancestral corn liqueur from Jilotepec, Mexico, and Aztec Ruda Bitters for a distinctive regional flavor. According to Vaszue, it’s his rendition of the popular Baja Carajillo Cocktail — a popular coffee libation typically made with Licor 43.
Danielle Espindola, head mixologist at New York City’s Berimbau Brazilian Kitchen, says her first concern is keeping the cocktail bold, yet balanced, and not overpowered by coffee or any other ingredients.
“At Berimbau, we use Nueva York Coffee, a locally roasted New York brand with Brazilian, Peruvian and Ethiopian coffees called ‘La Mezcla,’” she says. We grind it in-house, bringing out those great flavors which work in our current Café-rinha.”
That beverage — popular year-round as a dessert option and a brunch cocktail — features aged Cachaça, coffee liqueur, simple syrup and freshly brewed espresso.
“We already had an earlier iteration of the Café-rinha, which was served on the rocks, so I used that base and just gave it a little update, turning it into a twist on the classic espresso martini,” Espindola says. “With the spirit element, I like aged Cachaça. It's a spirit full of flavors, and while it is not so simple to work with, the result is great as aged Cachaça is sweeter and imparts a hint of cinnamon and caramel on the palate.”
Marrero also leans toward very flavorful coffees behind the bar.
“I look for a coffee that has a lot of flavor...deep rich coffee notes to stand up in the cocktail,” says Marrero. “Using subpar coffee or making the infusion too weak are common mistakes. The flavor needs to come through in the cocktail.”
Jamie Hickey — a barista certified by the Specialty Coffee Association, high-end steakhouse bartender, and founder of Coffee Semantics (a company that performs product reviews and teaches brewing techniques) — has observed that some bartenders believe more flavorful coffees will overpower or become lost in a cocktail. She disagrees.
‘“While some blends are very strong and slightly acidic, they lend their wonderful flavor to the drink,” Hickey says. “The roast is another important decision when developing a new recipe or tweaking one slightly. Less roasted beans will yield smoother drinks while more roasted beans will create bitter flavors which some customers find irresistible!”
Espindola and Bezzara also offer some preparation tips for anyone planning to add coffee cocktails to the bar menu.
Pre-brewing espresso shots instead of making them by order is one practice Espindola frowns upon.
“Coffee, in general, goes bitter after brewed and kept heated for a while, espresso even more. That causes a bad aftertaste, and we can feel that even when mixed in a drink,” she warns. “Another big mistake is not shaking enough or over-shaking the cocktail. That will change the aesthetic of the foam. A beautiful foam is made, without any cream, when the mix is given the right amount of air and energy.”
Bezzara also offers some common-sense advice founded in science:
“Hot coffee in a shaker tin will explode,” he says emphatically. “I like the idea of a finished cocktail with egg-white variant, but you would have to make sure the coffee is cold, or it’ll cook the eggs.”
SIDEBAR
Brewing Tips for Coffee Cocktails
Jamie Hickey, a barista certified by the Specialty Coffee Association and a bartender, shares insights on some of the most common mistakes mixologists make when brewing up recipes for coffee cocktails.
°Adding too much coffee to the mix. “This masks the flavor of other ingredients while also giving it an off-taste,” Hickey says. “When choosing a good coffee for your cocktail, know how strong you want it to taste and measure appropriate amounts.
* Using instant coffee. "Don't use instant coffee because the flavor will be different," Hickey says. "Instant tastes more like cocoa powder or chocolate syrup than brewed beans!”
°Mixing hot brewed coffee instead of iced coffee. According to Hickey, this usually results in a warmer texture and less complexity. “It's best to use cold-brewed iced coffee instead,” she advises.
°Cooking down too much liquid off the espresso mixture before adding it back into the mixer for more dilution. “This can darken your cocktail and make it burn hotter if you don't appreciate sipping on overly hot cocktails,” Hickey explains.
°Forgetting about creamers. “They are perfect for balancing out any sour or bitter flavors of cortado or coffees with the vanilla notes found in many [coffees] nowadays,” she says.