What are the Best Coffee Cocktails?

Alcohol and coffee: a combination that can definitely get divisive at times. Some revel in the flavours, some will remind you that ‘you’ll pay for mixing alcohol and caffeine’. Let’s forget about the sensible tutters for a second and talk about all the good that can come from a perfectly constructed coffee cocktail.

From an Espresso Martini to a simple Irish coffee, there’s a lot to unpack and enjoy in the world of boozy coffee drinks. Here are our favourites and some recipes to go along with them! 

Espresso Martini

Ingredients
60ml Black Cow Pure Milk Vodka
15ml Kahlúa
30ml freshly brewed, cooled espresso
15ml simple syrup
3 coffee beans for garnish

Method
Add vodka, Kahlúa, espresso and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with 3 coffee beans in the centre of the glass (ideally with tweezers or tongs).

Black Cow Pure Milk Vodka: UK £27.05
Kahlúa: UK £18.75 // US $30.99 

Coffee Old Fashioned

Ingredients
60ml Bulleit Bourbon
15ml St. George Nola Coffee Liqueur
7ml simple syrup
2 dash orange bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
twist of orange for garnish

Method
Pour the bourbon, coffee liqueur, simple syrup and bitters into a mixing glass. Fill the mixing glass three quarters full with ice. Stir for 30 seconds until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube and garnish with a twist of orange.

Bulleit Bourbon: UK £30.90 // US $37.99 
St. George Nola Coffee Liqueur: UK £35.50 // US $34.99

Irish Coffee

Ingredients
¾ mug hot coffee
45ml The Sexton Single Malt Whiskey
5-10ml maple syrup
whipped cream

Method
Pour the whiskey and 1 teaspoon of maple syrup into a heatproof mug or glass and add a splash of the hot coffee. Stir until the maple syrup has dissolved. Pour the rest of the coffee into the mug and taste. Add more maple syrup if you would like a sweeter coffee. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

The Sexton Single Malt: UK £28.84 // US $23.99

White Russian

Ingredients
60ml shots vodka
30ml Tia Maria
1 splash heavy cream

Method
Add the vodka and Tia Maria to an ice filled rocks glass. Top with the heavy cream and stir until chilled. Enjoy!

Tia Maria: UK £21.05 // US $43.99 

Spanish Coffee

Ingredients
90ml strong freshly brewed, cooled coffee
60ml Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
15ml Cointreau
15ml aged rum
granulated sugar (for the rim)
lemon wedge
whipped cream
grated chocolate
kitchen torch

Method
Brew the coffee and allow it to cool slightly. Use the lemon wedge to wet a ½ inch of the outer rim of the heatproof glass and dip the rim in granulated sugar. Carefully use a kitchen torch to caramelise the sugar and turn it brown. Add the Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur, Cointreau, rum and coffee to the glass and stir once. Add whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings.

Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur: UK £29.95 // US $31.99
Cointreau: UK £25.95 // US $60.99

Amaretto Coffee

Ingredients
100ml strong freshly brewed coffee
50ml Lazzaroni Amaretto
whipped cream
maple syrup

Method
Add the amaretto to the freshly brewed coffee in a heatproof mug or glass. Top with whipped cream and garnish with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Lazzaroni Amaretto: UK £22 // US $34.99

Are you a lover of coffee flavoured drinks? If so, make sure you check out The Best Vodka for an Espresso Martini and STRYKK: Not R*M Espresso Martini!

The Best Rums To Gift For Christmas

Rum has been one of the winners of lockdown, with sales skyrocketing as people experiment more with cocktails at home and build their own home bars. We’ve also been hugely impressed with the new rums we’ve seen this year. Here’s our selection of the best that would make great gifts for your loved ones - or yourself. My goodness, we deserve a tot this Winter!

Hattiers Rum  

Hattiers source fine rums from around the world and blend and bottle them in Devon. Perfect for sipping alone or mixing, they currently have three to choose from: a navy strength, which is like a fresh danish pastry with banana cream filling; the premium reserve rum, which is perfumed and silky smooth and a premium, blended aged white rum, which is reminiscent of vanilla fudge with pineapple notes. Highly recommended. 

ABV: 40% - 54.5%
Size: 70cl
Find here: £37.50 - £56

Equiano Rum 

This is the world’s first African and Caribbean rum blend, named after Olaudah Equiano, a freedom fighter who played an important part in the abolition movement. In this rum, two great distilleries combine: Foursquare in Barbados and Gray's Distillery in Mauritius. The Foursquare is aged in American white oak, while the Gray's is aged in both Cognac casks and French limousin oak before the both are put together and left to mellow in ex-Bourbon casks. The result is rich and creamy with notes of chocolate, toast, orange peel and a kick of ginger, with some red fruit on the finish. Great for sipping or in cocktails! 

ABV: 43%
Size: 70cl
Find here: Master of Malt or Equino.com

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva

This stunning sipping rum from Venezuela is molasses-based and produced with a blend of exclusive rum reserves aged for up to twelve years. With wine-like viscosity, this rum is super smooth with a beautiful nose of orange peel, toffee and licorice with elements of carmel and fudge on the finish. Elegant and delicious. 

ABV: 40%
Size: 70cl
Find here: UK £38.75 // US $39.99

Merser & Co Double-Barrel Rum

One of Helena’s absolute favourites, this is an elegant, understated style of golden rum, created by blending aged rums from Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala and Panama before giving them a secondary cask maturation and being bottled in London. A great one for sipping over ice, with its subtle vanilla pod, caramel and tropical fruit notes. 

ABV: 43.1%
Size: 70cl
Find here: £34.95

Don Papa Rye Aged Rum

This delicious new edition from the Don Papa: the rum Gods based in the Philippines, has been aged for four years in American rye casks. The result is a fragrant, peppery and spicy rum that’s silky smooth and quite different from what they’ve done before. We love it and are very happy sipping it alone. Launching this week at Harvey Nichols!

ABV: 45%
Find here: £65

‘The 45’ Scottish Spiced Rum

Handcrafted in Glasgow in very small batches, 45 Scottish Spiced Rum is a golden rum infused with interesting local botanicals such as smoked seaweed and liquorice as well a ginger and orange zest. At 45% it is flavourful and very distinctive. A perfect addition to some festive cocktails.

ABV: 45%
Size: 70cl
Find here: £37.50

Black Tot 50th Anniversary Rum

This Rum celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Black Tot Day, which is the day in 1970 when rum rationing to those in the Navy ceased. A special limited edition, this rum hails from the Caribbean with a blend of rums from Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad, and is rich with layers of flavour including Vanilla pods, dark chocolate, nuts and baked bananas. Touches of mint, liquorice and lime juice keep everything in balance. Sumptuous and decadent, this is a great rum for Christmas.

ABV: 54.5%
Size: 70cl
Find here: £110

Fire Dept. Coffee: Rum-infused

Rum lover and a coffee lover? US brand Fire Dept. Coffee is a veteran-owned business that's run by firefighters who sell high-quality coffee, with 10% of net proceeds donated to help first responders that have become sick or injured while on the job. They have a fantastic range of booze-infused coffees too including this rum one! It’s a delicious, sweet and very smooth coffee where the rum flavour comes through in just the right amount. Also try their bourbon, tequila and other whiskey-infused coffees for a festive pick me up!

ABV: 0%
Size: 12oz
Find it at Firedeptcoffee.com $19.99

Love whisky too? Then make sure to check out our 2020 whisky gift guide! Oh, and let’s not forget our vodka, tequila and gin gift guides too!

The Ripple Maker

Ripples are willing to go the extra mile for their customers to make their latte experience exceptional.

Now, businesses can go beyond basic flowers and leaves with the Ripple Maker. This machine taps into the latest technology to translate artwork from a web or mobile app onto the froth of a latte, in seconds.

Using the touchscreen on the Ripple Maker, the barista can select existing art designs. They can also upload custom designs from their mobile app to the machine. The Ripple Maker then prints the design onto the top of a hot beverage using a patented coffee extract of Arabica and Robusta beans, yielding beautiful latte art with no compromises in taste.

What’s even better? There is a ‘PM’ version of this machine so not only can you make the perfect coffee but now you can add a beautiful design to your cocktails too!

Buy now from £1000