The festive season is finally behind us and normality has resumed. The gift you gave your lover was well-received (and rewarded), and your baubles are polished and packed away.
If, like my husband-to-be (a few days until our wedding) and I, you spent the festive season vastly over-indulging (on a beach in Fiji) and are just not ready to settle down, then I say don’t! There’s lots of pressure in January for us to be ‘dry’ or to roll up at Les Mills at 6 am on-trend in lycra, but I, for one, am just not ready for it. I implore you to join me.
Summer is finally here, life is for living and it is for that reason that I’ve decided this month’s column should be dedicated to one of my most favourite indulgences of all: the Espresso Martini.
Having soared in popularity over the last ten years, the Espresso Martini is a favourite of many. A sumptuous blend of vodka, coffee liqueur and espresso. It’s rich, creamy and the shot of espresso will give you a nudge in the right direction if you’ve got your dancing shoes on!
Its not hard to understand why someone thought vodka and espresso would go so well together. I mean, for most of us, they both form part of our daily routine.
The honour of this decadent delight goes to British (because all the best things come from the UK) bartending guru Dick Bradsell. He is credited with revolutionising the cocktail scene in London in the 1980s, through his work at bars such as The Player, 6 Degrees and Match – and the invention of modern classics like the Bramble.
The story goes that Bradsell created the drink — originally called The Vodka Espresso, then the Pharmaceutical Stimulant — at Fred’s Club in the late 1980s, when a young model, who Bradsell claims is now world-famous, sidled up to the bar and asked for something to “wake me up and f**k me up”. His solution was a combination of vodka, fresh espresso, coffee liqueur and sugar, shaken into a frothy mix of bittersweet addiction.
Restaurants and bars worldwide will have their own offering of an Espresso Martini. However, the best I’ve ever had (and I am quite the aficionado) was made by my gorgeous pal Jo McCahill, who served hers at a dinner party we attended early last year. Check out the recipe below:
The ‘JoJo’
30 mL Grey Goose Vodka
15 mL Franjelico
15 mL Patron XO Tequila
60 mL freshly-brewed espresso (Nespresso pod machines are ideal)
5 mL sugar syrup
Shaken over ice and strained into a chilled martini glass.
For all those of you who try to make this delicious concoction yourselves, please be sure to share it on Instagram and tag me @tobiasadam! I’m sure you’ll too become a huge fan. #dothejojo
