Ingredients

  • 1½ ozirish whiskey
  • 1 ozcoffee liqueur
  • 1 ozirish cream liqueur
  • 1 ozespresso

🔧 Tools

cocktail shakerjiggerfine mesh strainercoupe glass

Instructions

  1. Brew one shot of espresso and allow it to cool slightly — hot espresso will over-dilute the cocktail.
  2. Add the Irish whiskey, coffee liqueur, Irish cream liqueur, and cooled espresso to a cocktail shaker.
  3. Add ice and shake vigorously for 15–20 seconds. A hard shake creates the signature foam.
  4. Double strain through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled coupe glass to remove ice chips.
  5. The foam will rise to the surface naturally. Garnish with three espresso beans placed in the center.

📜 History

The Espresso Martini was created in the 1980s by London bartender Dick Bradsell, who reportedly invented the vodka-and-espresso cocktail after a customer asked for a drink that would "wake me up and then mess me up." The Irish Espresso Martini is a popular St. Patrick's Day riff that swaps the vodka for Irish whiskey and adds Irish cream liqueur for a richer, more layered result. In 2025, Kahlúa officially promoted this exact build — equal parts Kahlúa, Jameson, and espresso — as part of their St. Patrick's Day campaign, cementing it as a mainstream cocktail variation.

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