A Martini Without Mystery
If you read my previous blog, hopefully you will remember how mysterious the Mojito’s origin was. This is not the case for the Espresso Martini. Being created in the year 1983 instead of, well, the age of pirates meant its creation is fairly well documented.
There exists a variety of content online in which Dick Bradsell, the creator of the Espresso Martini, speaks about his creation. If that’s the case, what should I talk about? I’ve decided to write about the interesting factors leading to its creation, what the cocktail represents and why it is a favourite here at Lateo.
Born from Necessity
The eighties, a stand out era of great movies, music, martinis and terrible fashion. Also, the era that gave birth to the Espresso Martini in particular. In ’83 bartending guru Dick Bradsell served drinks at the Soho Brasserie in London. Whilst on shift Dick was asked by a customer, who is said to now be a famous model, to make her a drink that will ‘wake me up and f**k me up’. When asked about this moment Dick states: “The coffee machine at the Soho was right next to the where I served drinks. It was a nightmare as there were coffee grounds everywhere, so coffee was very much on my mind.” This led to the idea of mixing coffee liqueur into the drink. Who would’ve guessed a lack of cleaning up coffee beans would lead to the creation of one of the most popular cocktails in the world?
“And it was all about vodka back then- it was all people were drinking.” Hence why vodka was Bradsell’s choice. Upon combining coffee liqueur and vodka Dick named his creation ‘Vodka Espresso’. As the 80’s became the 90’s vodka remains incredibly popular, therefore the Vodka Espresso gains popularity. At this point Dick has tweaked his creation and dubbed it the ‘Espresso Martini’.
The Brown Petal
If you’ve ever taken the time to enjoy an Espresso Martini before, you’ll most likely have noticed three coffee beans having a paddle in the drink. This neat little garnish comes from the traditional serving of sambuca in Italy. The three beans in petal formation are called ‘Con la Musca’ which translates to ‘With the fly’. This formation represents health, wealth and happiness. So, just remember when you toast while drinking an Espresso Martini, you are celebrating those aspects of life.
Why We Love It
Along side cocktails and food, we pride ourselves on making a good coffee too! Hence why I’ll grab one at lunch every now and again. One component of a great coffee is quality coffee beans, so we like to ensure high quality coffee beans are bought to elevate the taste of our coffees. So, we like making a good coffee, therefore we like making a good Espresso Martini
too but… why? Well, we can make it our own. Just like Bradsell we’ve tweaked the cocktail. Vanilla vodka is our 2020’s twist on the cocktail and it goes down a treat! To compliment the coffee bean garnish, we sprinkle biscuit crumbs across the cocktail. All of this means that when you’re drinking an Espresso Martini made in Lateo, you know you’re drinking an Espresso Martini made in Lateo.
