The Espresso Martini has gone from a 1980s cocktail bar oddity to one of the most ordered drinks in the world. The non-alcoholic version keeps everything that made it popular: the rich coffee flavor, the velvet-smooth texture, and that impressive layer of foam on top. It’s a drink that works after dinner, alongside dessert, or honestly, as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
The foam is everything
The defining feature of a good Espresso Martini is the crema, that thin, creamy layer of foam sitting on the surface. It comes from shaking freshly brewed espresso with ice, hard and fast. The natural oils and proteins in the coffee create the foam when agitated. You need real espresso for this. Regular brewed coffee doesn’t produce enough crema, and instant coffee produces almost none. If you don’t have an espresso machine, a Moka pot or an Aeropress pressed at double strength will get you there.
The espresso needs to be cooled before it goes in the shaker. Hot espresso will melt the ice instantly and dilute the drink before you’ve had a chance to shake it properly. Brew it, let it sit for five minutes, or pour it over a single ice cube to bring the temperature down quickly.
The sweetener
Traditional Espresso Martinis use coffee liqueur for sweetness and extra coffee depth. In the non-alcoholic version, you have a few options. Coffee liqueur syrup, made by brands like Monin, gets closest to the original. Simple syrup works fine and lets the espresso speak for itself. If you like things a little richer, try vanilla syrup or maple syrup. Each one takes the drink in a slightly different direction.
Start with half an ounce of whatever sweetener you choose. The espresso is bitter on its own, and the sweetener needs to balance that without turning the drink into dessert. You can always add more, but you can’t take it out.
Three beans on top
The traditional garnish is three coffee beans floated on the foam. They look sharp against the light brown crema and they give the drink a bit of ritual. If you want to go a step further, grate a small amount of dark chocolate over the foam. The White Russian is another coffee-forward recipe worth trying if this one becomes a regular in your rotation.
