5 Coffee Cocktails That Actually Taste Good

The espresso martini is having a moment, and honestly, it deserves it. But the version most bars serve, pre-made espresso from hours ago, cheap coffee liqueur, enough simple syrup to give you a cavity, is a tragedy. A good coffee cocktail should taste like great coffee met great spirits and they decided to hang out.

These five recipes are what I actually make at home. They're simple, they use real coffee (not just coffee-flavored sugar), and they respect both ingredients. You don't need a cocktail shaker collection or a home bar setup. A jar with a lid works fine for shaking.

1. The Proper Espresso Martini

The espresso martini lives or dies on the freshness of the espresso. Pull the shot right before mixing. The CO2 in fresh espresso is what creates that beautiful crema-like foam on top of the drink. Old espresso equals flat, lifeless presentation.

What you need

• 1 fresh double espresso (about 2 oz), slightly cooled
• 1.5 oz vodka (something clean and neutral, not flavored)
• 0.75 oz coffee liqueur (Kahlua works, Mr. Black is better)
• 0.25 oz simple syrup (optional, taste first, the liqueur is already sweet)
• Ice

How to make it

Add everything to a shaker with ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds, the vigorous shaking with fresh espresso creates that iconic foam layer. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with three coffee beans if you're feeling fancy.

2. Cold Brew Old Fashioned

This is my go-to evening drink when I want something sophisticated without a lot of fuss. Cold brew concentrate stands in for the traditional sugar/bitters component, adding depth, slight bitterness, and roasty sweetness that plays beautifully with bourbon.

What you need

• 2 oz bourbon (something with caramel and vanilla notes, Maker's Mark, Buffalo Trace, or Woodford Reserve work great)
• 1 oz cold brew concentrate (the strong stuff, not diluted ready-to-drink)
• 0.25 oz maple syrup or demerara syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Orange peel for garnish

How to make it

Combine bourbon, cold brew, syrup, and bitters in a mixing glass with ice. Stir (don't shake, this isn't a drink that wants aeration) for about 30 seconds until well-chilled. Strain over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Express an orange peel over the surface by squeezing it skin-side down, then drop it in.

3. Irish Coffee (Done Right)

Most Irish coffees are sad, weak coffee, too much sugar, a squirt of canned whipped cream. The real version, the one they make at the Buena Vista in San Francisco, is a thing of beauty. Hot coffee, good whiskey, and lightly whipped cream that you sip the coffee through.

What you need

• 6 oz hot, freshly brewed coffee (medium roast works best, too light and it gets lost, too dark and it's bitter)
• 1.5 oz Irish whiskey (Jameson, Powers, Redbreast if you're treating yourself)
• 1 tsp brown sugar or demerara sugar
• Heavy cream, lightly whipped (not stiff peaks, you want it pourable but thick)

How to make it

Preheat a glass mug with hot water (this matters, cold glass kills the drink). Dump the water, add sugar, pour in hot coffee, stir to dissolve. Add whiskey, stir once. Pour lightly whipped cream over the back of a spoon so it floats on top. Don't stir. Drink the hot coffee-whiskey through the cold cream layer.

4. Coffee Negroni

This one is for the bitter-loving crowd. A classic negroni already plays in the bitter space with Campari and vermouth. Adding cold brew deepens the bitterness in a way that's complex and incredibly grown-up tasting. Fair warning: this is not a sweet drink.

What you need

• 1 oz gin (London dry style, Beefeater, Tanqueray)
• 1 oz Campari
• 0.75 oz sweet vermouth
• 0.5 oz cold brew concentrate
• Orange peel for garnish

How to make it

Combine everything in a mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain over a large ice cube. Orange peel garnish. That's it. The cold brew rounds out Campari's sharp bitterness and adds a roasty depth that makes this feel like an entirely new drink.

5. Vietnamese Coffee Cocktail

Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) is already one of the best coffee drinks on earth, strong, sweet, creamy, cold. Adding rum turns it into a tropical cocktail that's dangerously easy to drink on a hot afternoon.

What you need

• 3 oz strong coffee or espresso, cooled (dark roast works authentically here)
• 2 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 1.5 oz aged rum (Appleton Estate, Plantation, or El Dorado)
• Ice

How to make it

Stir the sweetened condensed milk into the cooled coffee until dissolved. Add rum. Pour over a tall glass packed with ice. Stir once. The rum's caramel and vanilla notes mesh perfectly with the condensed milk sweetness and the dark, bold coffee. It tastes like vacation.

A Note on Coffee Quality for Cocktails

You don't need your most expensive single-origin beans for cocktails. The spirits, sweeteners, and other ingredients mask the subtle origin characteristics that make a $25 bag of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe worth the price. Use a solid medium or medium-dark roast that you enjoy drinking on its own. If the coffee tastes bad black, it'll taste bad in a cocktail too. But you don't need anything fancy.