Irresistible Coffee Cocktails You Can Master at Home

3. Chipotle Mexican Coffee

“Roasted coffee beans, roasted jalapeño peppers, and roasted agave—this is about as good as it gets to warm you up at the end of a cold day,” says Neil Grosscup, Tanteo Tequila’s CEO and master blender. Plus, the chipotle tequila (no need to infuse your own) adds a little extra heat.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Tanteo Chipotle Tequila
• 5 oz freshly brewed coffee
• ½ tsp granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• Whipped cream for topping

Instructions

Add fresh coffee to glass. Stir in white and brown sugar until dissolved, then add Tanteo Chipotle Tequila and stir again. Top with whipped cream.

4. Espresso Martini

Skip dessert and make this decadent cocktail created by Philadelphia’s a.bar head bartender Sean McGuire. “It will revive you after a long meal, and keep you awake for a night ahead,” McGuire promises. The bar starts with its house vodka that’s distilled specifically for a.kitchen +a.bar from Philadelphia Distilling, then uses a Philly espresso. As a home bartender, it’s encouraged you source a local coffee, too.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz premium vodka
• 0.75 oz espresso
• 0.5 oz Amaro Averna
• 0.75 oz heavy cream
• 0.25 oz Tempus Fugit Spirits Crème de Cacao
• Espresso beans for garnish

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except espresso beans in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously, then double strain. Garnish with a few espresso beans.

5. The Half Lebowski

Instead of vodka, The Aquifer bar located inside New Riff Distilling in Newport, Kentucky, gives the whiskey treatment to a White Russian, aka The Dude’s favorite cocktail in The Big Lebowski. “It’s creamy and approachable,” says bar manager Katie Tobin. “And who doesn’t like a little caffeination with their libation?”

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey
• 1.5 oz Kahlúa
• 3 oz cold brew coffee, preferably barrel-aged

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass, stir, then strain into a collins glass over ice.

6. Kentucky Coffee

Bartender Patrick Turner, with B&O American Brasserie in Baltimore, MD, says he’s been working to perfect the Irish coffee for a while. To get there, he starts with bourbon and crafts a semi-whipped cream with vanilla extract. “The vanilla pairs incredibly well with Maker’s Mark,” he says.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Maker’s Mark
• 2 oz coffee
• 1 oz heavy cream
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• 2 dash vanilla extract

Instructions

Pour your whiskey and coffee in a mug of your choice. Add all other ingredients into a shaker without ice. Shake for about a minute. Float the cream mixture on top of the coffee using the back of a spoon.

7. Carajillo

Often, this cocktail is made with brandy or whisky. But in this rendition from Bourbon Steak at Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C., mezcal adds complexity with its smokiness—and the spicy sweetness of Licor 43 balances the espresso’s bitterness.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz Ilegal Mezcal
• 1 oz Licor 43
• 1 shot espresso
• 2 dashes of orange bitters
• Orange wedge or expressed orange peel for a garnish

Instructions

Combine all ingredients and shake lightly in a shaker. Pour into a coupe glass. Garnish with a wedge of an orange or an expressed orange peel.

8. Cold Brew Negroni

A slightly lower AVB Negroni, this cold brew cocktail shared by Woodford Food & Beverage in Portland, ME, makes a damn good daytime sipper.

Ingredients

• 1 oz cold brew coffee
• 0.5 oz Plymouth Gin
• 0.75 oz Campari
• 0.75 oz sweet vermouth

Instructions

Build all ingredients in a shaker half-filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a lowball glass over a large cube. Express a wide orange peel over the glass and float on top of the cube.

9. San Fran Grapes and Grains

In the spirit of unlikely combinations, this libation pairs coffee, wine, whiskey, and chocolate—courtesy of Tracy Johanna, bartender at The Linden in Lindenhurst, NY, on behalf of Slane Irish Whiskey.

“I wanted to celebrate all aspects of a traditional Irish coffee, while highlighting the wine culture of California as well as Slane Irish Whiskey,” Johanna says. “The spirit and the rich (but dry) chocolate-cabernet syrup pair well with the dark, roasty notes of the coffee, which is mellowed out by cream and brightened by bitter orange. This is a twist on a traditional Irish coffee.”

Ingredients

• .75 oz Bitter Chocolate Cabernet Syrup*
• 1.5 oz Slane Irish Whiskey
• Hot coffee (enough to pour till 1/4” from top)
• Garnish with lightly whipped, unsweetened heavy cream, grated bitter chocolate, and orange twist

  Bitter Chocolate Cabernet Syrup*

• 2 cups cabernet sauvignon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup corn syrup
• 2 cups chopped 85% cacao bitter chocolate
• Orange peels from 2 oranges Heat all ingredients (except orange peels) on medium heat until reduced by 1/3. Add in orange peels and simmer on low for 20 more minutes. Chill, strain, and store in refrigerator.

Instructions

Preheat stemmed glass. Add Bitter Chocolate Cabernet Syrup, whiskey, and hot coffee. Top with heavy cream, grated chocolate, and orange peel.