In October 2021, New York Journal’s Grub Avenue printed a chunk titled “‘No Extra Espresso Martinis!’ Why bartenders hate the most popular drink on the planet.” The ten-paragraph article went all in on the beloved cocktail, that includes gripe after gripe from NYC bartenders apparently fed up with the drink’s recognition. One known as the drink “annoying,” “obnoxious,” and “stylish.” One other admitted he “[doesn’t] hold the substances on the bar particularly in order that we will’t make them.”
The piece ended with a well-known prediction: that stylish drinks just like the Espresso Martini disappear as rapidly as they arrive. And the article did run throughout what felt like peak Espresso Martinimania. However it was actually just the start. In accordance with Drinks Worldwide’s annual roundup of the world’s 50 hottest cocktails, the Espresso Martini has solely gained floor. It ranked sixth in 2021, slipped to No. 7 in 2022, and has since held the No. 4 spot for the three years straight. The business’s disdain, nonetheless, hasn’t subsided.
In a current Instagram video from drinks influencer The Educated Barfly, bartenders at Bar Convent Brooklyn 2025 have been requested to call probably the most overrated cocktail. Each single one gave the identical reply: the Espresso Martini.
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Name it the Cosmo of our technology — crowd-pleasing, tasty, comparatively straightforward to make, and a confirmed moneymaker. So why the hate? Simplicity shouldn’t be against the law. Perhaps it’s time the business reduce the Espresso Martini some slack and recognize it for what it’s. Maintain your fireplace and listen to me out.
It’s Not Arduous to Make
The most important problem bartenders spotlight tends to come back down to 1 factor: espresso. The unique spec requires a freshly pulled shot, which is a logistical nightmare for many bars. Few have house for an espresso machine, and including a piping scorching shot to a shaker stuffed with ice can result in dilution points. However most bars have discovered workarounds that render the “it’s-hard- to- make” grievance moot.
At Gussie’s and The Hippo in Raleigh, N.C., proprietor Katie O’Kane pre-pulls espresso photographs earlier than service and batches them with different substances. Come service time, it’s a easy shake-and-serve. “For us with a higher-volume setting, it does precisely what we want it to do,” she says. “It’s a really joyful second each time a visitor apologizes for ordering six Espresso Martinis and we’re thrilled to make it as a result of we’re so happy with ours and the batch makes it straightforward to execute. It’s the identical with our Mojito.”
Many bars skip contemporary espresso altogether. At residence, Dealer Joe’s Chilly Brew focus does the trick. And whereas most bars wouldn’t stoop to that, chilly brew focus is outwardly a serviceable different.
“It’s turn into much more the norm nowadays to make use of a stronger chilly brew focus as a substitute (our bar included),” says Scott Kitsmiller, bar supervisor of Chicago’s Gus’ Sip & Dip. At Gus’, the prep group does a 24-hour chilly extraction with freshly floor, regionally roasted espresso beans, permitting them to supply a liquid that stands toe-to-toe with espresso in taste and energy. “The temperature and ease of service is simply hundreds higher with [it], dashing up the time it takes to make the drink drastically,” Kitsmiller says.
The frequent argument towards chilly brew is that it lacks the froth of contemporary espresso. Honest — however not a dealbreaker. “We get round it by shaking all our Espresso Martinis with a single 2-by-2-inch dice of ice so as to add the specified mild and fluffy texture that’s related to a well-made model of the cocktail,” Kitsmiller says.
“It may be a scrumptious drink that you may put your individual spin on. And if it makes individuals joyful, what’s extra to like?”
With some prep and planning, the Espresso Martini is not any tougher to make than a Margarita, Daiquiri, or Final Phrase. It’s definitely simpler than any egg white drink, particularly the infamous, shoulder-popping Ramos Gin Fizz.
That brings us to a different frequent grievance — one which has nothing to do with effort. The curmudgeons name it overrated.
It’s Not ‘Overrated’
Calling a cocktail “overrated” is difficult to justify when private style is inherently subjective. However the extra in style a drink turns into, the extra possible it’s to fall within the arms of unskilled bartenders, resulting in inconsistent high quality and the possibility of being burned by a poorly made Espresso Martini.
“I believe the Espresso Martini is a kind of cocktails that may differ in high quality so drastically — after they’re good, they’re incredible. Once they’re unhealthy, they’re actually unhealthy,” Kitsmiller says. “Subsequently I believe it has turn into a simple drink for some individuals to hate.”
Even in a hypothetical world the place each Espresso Martini is executed flawlessly, the drink nonetheless carries baggage. As the newest iteration within the speedball style — as soon as outlined by low-brow choices like 4 Loko and Vodka Redbulls — some nonetheless see it as extra about operate than taste.
However in contrast to these predecessors, the Espresso Martini is a bona fide cocktail, developed by an achieved bartender: the late Dick Bradsell, who additionally invented the Bramble.
“To sum up my emotions about that drink: Espresso Martini = joyful visitor = cash within the financial institution.”
“I don’t assume the Espresso Martini is deserving of any extra umbrage than the Cosmopolitan is. Neither must be hated,” says Richie Boccato, proprietor of New York’s Dutch Kills, Contemporary Kills Bar, The Gem, and Hundredweight Huge Ice. “Each of these drinks have been created by legendary veteran barmen who greater than paid their dues, and their enduring legacies ought to function the one testimony that anybody must validate the presence of these cocktails within the fashionable bartender’s repertoire.”
What the Espresso Martini lacks — not less than within the eyes of “cool child” bartenders — is attraction on paper. It’s vodka, sugar, espresso liqueur, and espresso. That’s it. However that simplicity can also be its energy.
The spec can also be simply adaptable.. In the event you discover vodka boring, use an añejo tequila as a substitute. If that’s not your pace, attain for an aged rum.
“To make our home Espresso Martini, we use contemporary espresso, a vanilla lactic acid syrup, espresso liqueur, and cut up base of rum and vodka which provides it some complexity and neutrality that our friends appear to like,” O’Kane says. “It may be a scrumptious drink that you may put your individual spin on. And if it makes individuals joyful, what’s extra to like?”
It’s Cash in Your Pocket
To reply O’Kane’s query: What’s extra to like is that the Espresso Martini is likely one of the cocktail world’s golden geese. It brings in money — and plenty of it. And with all due respect to the bartender who informed Grubstreet in 2021 that he doesn’t even carry the substances, there’s nothing stopping friends from going throughout the road and getting their repair elsewhere.
And actually, since when was the service business about what the operator likes, and never the visitor? Burger King hasn’t gone broke from letting prospects “have it your approach.” Peter Luger’s isn’t turning away steak orders as a result of cooks are bored. And no person’s forcing bartenders to drink Espresso Martinis — simply to serve them.
Take Boccato, as an example, who says he doesn’t drink them, however gladly sells them.
“To sum up my emotions about that drink: Espresso Martini = joyful visitor = cash within the financial institution,” he says. “If it actually hurts your emotions to make somebody an Espresso Martini in change for cash plus tax and gratuity, then show your chops as a bartender and recommend a extra fascinating different to your visitor.”
This Is the Hospitality Trade
Whether or not or not Espresso Martini mania fades — and finally it can — it’s price remembering that that is the hospitality business. It’s purported to be concerning the visitor. Which means leaving egos on the door and aiming to make individuals joyful. If which means making Espresso Martinis all evening, so be it.
“On the finish of the day, if the visitor is happy a few cocktail, it’s our job to make the very best model of it we will,” O’Kane says.
It’s additionally not my job to inform bartenders easy methods to do theirs. However right here’s my take: If bartenders let friends take pleasure in one of the vital in style cocktails with out judgment, bars will probably be higher — and extra worthwhile — for it.
And developments all the time transfer on. The Espresso Martini gained’t be the “it” drink perpetually. It may take a couple of years. It may take a decade. However when it occurs, one other drink will take its place because the No. 1 cocktail bartenders like to hate.
“Mark my phrases, it is going to be one thing else in a couple of years, and we’ll all collectively resolve that we love Espresso Martinis once more,” Kitsmiller says. “I sit up for the day once I order a Harvey Wallbanger in a sea of different orange-hued glasses and get a watch roll from the bartender. It simply implies that the world’s nonetheless spinning.”
