The pisco sour was one of the first drinks to be codified during the “Golden Age of Cocktails.” In fact, the recipe emerged as a result of a confluence of factors far from the South American spirit’s birthplace. 

California boasts a history of wine and brandy production dating back to the 17th century, as well as a deep connection to South and Central American territories once controlled by the Spanish Crown. Gold Rush era San Francisco was a hotbed for cocktail culture, by virtue of the glut of unattached men looking for ways to distract themselves from their arduous work in the mining industry. While the Conquistadors invested in California wine production, spirit distillation was much less widespread; for local high rollers who wished to imbibe, high-quality options were slim. 

Pisco—a grape-based distillate whose origins are a topic of debate between Peru and Chile—was suited perfectly to the late 19th century’s emerging “fancy drinks” trend. At turns aromatic and dry, the spirit pairs nicely with various fruits and acids, and was a natural choice for the era’s elevated serves. San Francisco’s Bank Exchange and Billiard Saloon popularized pisco in the 1880s by mixing it with pineapple, lime, and syrup for the enormously popular pisco punch, inspiring imitators throughout the city. Then in the 1920s, the South American liquor garnered its international fame when Victor Vaughn Morris, an American bar owner who’d immigrated to Lima, began serving a pisco-based riff on the whisky sour.  Made luxuriously silky via the addition of egg white (like the Ramos gin fizz popularized in New Orleans shortly before), and highly aromatic courtesy of Angostura bitters, a drink this good is virtually impossible to improve upon, which explains why the recipe hasn’t changed in over a century.

*Note: It is important to point out that Chilean pisco is generally more floral, while Peruvian versions can display more earthy and vegetal notes which I find more suitable for cocktailing. There are four broad styles of Peruvian Pisco: Puro, Aromatico, Acholado, and Mosto Verde. I prefer Acholado for its drier profile, while others may prefer the sweetness of Mosto Verde. The brands Barsol, Porton, and Macchu Pisco will all work nicely in this recipe.

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Various conflicting origin stories surround the classic sidecar recipe, which only adds to the throwback cocktail’s mystery and charm. It’s fairly certain that the bright and citrusy drink is a descendent of the brandy crusta, a groundbreaking 19th century classic that was one of the first to leverage techniques now considered commonplace. It incorporated a liqueur as a sweetener; it juxtaposed that sweetness with bitters; it wielded citrus peel as a means for opening up the olfactories; and it featured a sugared rim. Do these elements sound familiar? The crusta is also a precursor to the daisy cocktail, from which the hugely popular margarita was derived. 

These days, Cognac- and other brandy-based drinks are comparatively rare, but in a way, the sidecar is positioned squarely in its own sort of zeitgeist: The drink was created in the 1920s, when the popularity of rich, brandy-based cocktails was on the wane in favor of trendier gin drinks. With its crisp and refreshing flavor profile, the sidecar bucked expectations set by its sweeter and heavier ancestors, proving the grape-based spirit’s versatility once and for all. 
For best results, be sure to start with fresh citrus. And make your own simple syrup; stored in the fridge, it keeps well for up to a month.

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I developed the Wise Guy last holiday season and since then it has become one of my go-to winter drinks. Spicy, bold, and aromatic, the spiced coffee old fashioned is smooth enough to sip at a slow pace, so go with a “bottled in bond” rye or a premium, high-proof rum. Flavored with allspice, cinnamon, and clove, Piemento liqueur (sometimes also labeled Allspice Dram) was a popular ingredient in 18th century punches. The best examples are those based on pot-still Jamaica rum, such as Hamilton Pimento Liqueur.

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During the 1980s and ‘90s craft cocktail revival, Dick Bradsell was a bar consultant working in the U.K., where he contributed a few of the era’s most influential cocktails to the modern bartender’s repertoire. Most notable among them: the classic espresso martini. Bradsell originally served the drink, which he called the “vodka espresso,” on the rocks. I suggest trying the drink both up and on ice to see which you prefer.

Featured in: “How to Add Coffee to Your Cocktails.”

Optional Variations:

Sweetness: if you prefer a sweeter build, add ¼– ½ ounce simple syrup.
Spirit: Try swapping out the vodka for tequila, rum, Cognac, or even gin. 
Balance: If you like, add a few drops of a fourth ingredient for bitterness or brightness, such as an amaro or fruit liqueur.

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Popular in Spain, Mexico, and elsewhere throughout Latin America, the carajillo is a drink born of the people as opposed to having been created in a bar. The simple template leaves a lot of room for variations according to products available and personal taste. Traditionally, equal parts coffee or espresso are combined with a spirit or liqueur, be it rum, brandy, or an herbal liqueur such as Licor 43.  The result is a bracing pick-me-up that balances both stimulating and calming effects on mood, mind, and body.

Featured in: “How to Add Coffee to Your Cocktails.”

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Coffee cocktails are nothing new. Recipes featuring the invigorating brew date back to the late 19th century. In the early days, at least one of the first to appear in print contained no coffee at all: Jerry Thomas’s Bartending Guide (1867) included a “Coffee Cocktail” recipe which was a rich, flip-like combination of brandy, port, egg, and nutmeg meant to be consumed after dinner as an alternative or accompaniment to coffee or tea. In Mexico, coffee mixed with tequila and Licor 43 has been a bar mainstay since the 1940s. The Irish Coffee was invented at around the same time by chef Joe Sheridan at Foyne’s Flying Boat, an airport bar in Ireland. A short time later, American travel writer Stanton Delaplane introduced the Irish Coffee to the U.S. by getting it put on the menu at San Francisco’s Buena Vista Cafe. 

You’ll notice that most early coffee cocktails were quite sweet, heavy, and often hot, tending to fall into the after-dinner category. This all changed in the early 1980s when acclaimed London bartender Dick Bardsell put a drink he called the Vodka Espresso on the menu at Soho Brasserie. Over the course of the following two decades, the drink would eventually become the worldwide sensation known as the espresso martini. 

The espresso martini lost a bit of steam at the end of the 20th century as classic clear martinis came back into vogue. It’s worth noting that at this time, palates began to skew drier, brighter, and more citrus- or spirit-forward. Until recently, the bulk of coffee liqueurs that were widely available were unfashionably sugary and coffee drinks were, once again, largely confined to the dessert course.

Simultaneously, though, craft coffee was becoming a part of everyday American life. Premium chains like Pete’s and Starbucks, and later more boutique “Third Wave coffee” shops like La Colombe and Blue Bottle helped to usher great coffee into the mainstream. A variety of new, niche brewing methods—from cold brew to pour over to nitro—introduced a wider range of flavors and coffee styles to the consumer, be it at a cafe or at home.  

Do a casual poll and you may be surprised to learn that many bartenders—myself included—are former baristas. In the late aughts and early 2010s, I started noticing that many of my bartending peers were tinkering with coffee again. Some infused spirits with whole or ground beans; others swapped out the Guinness for nitro-brewed iced coffee to achieve a caffeinated and lower-ABV boilermaker. Even a few old classics started to come back: Since opening in 2016, New York City’s famed Irish cocktail bar, The Dead Rabbit, has sold hundreds of Irish Coffees each week. 

The spirits industry, too, has caught onto this reemerging trend: Brands like Mr. Black, J Rieger, and Jagermeister now offer coffee liqueurs and amaros that embrace the bitter end of the flavor spectrum, an about-face from the sugary likes of Tia Maria and Kahlua. In 2018, coffee cocktail culture went further mainstream when Starbucks began serving coffee and tea-infused cocktails at its Reserve Roastery in Milan. Starbucks’ bar concept is largely inspired by Italian cafe culture, where coffee, aperitivo, wine, beer, and spirits are all enjoyed at the same establishment. Soon after the Milan launch, the global coffee brand rolled out bar programs in its New York and Chicago flagships too. 

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. As bars, restaurants, and mom-and-pop cafes shut down, a curious trend emerged: over-the-top coffee drink orders started going viral on Tik Tok, sparking debate amongst baristas around what was “too much.”  My theory is that patrons, unable to go to their local bar and order a cocktail, started relying on their coffee orders to scratch the itch for custom-made drinks. Lo and behold, when bars began to open up again, everyone and their mother seemed to want an espresso martini.

What initially appeared to be an anomaly eventually proved to be a bona fide example of a pop culture-driven drink trend: Seemingly out of nowhere, espresso martinis became the “It” drink, reminiscent of the cosmo in the ’90s, the martini in the ’60s, and the mint julep in the 1860s.  Bartenders are now upgrading the original, taking advantage of the new coffee spirits, and offering their own riffs on classic coffee cocktail recipes. Even the ready-to-drink contingent is getting in on the trend, as top-quality canned and bottled espresso martinis are coming to market at a rapid clip. I’m partial to the one from On The Rocks—if you don’t have an espresso maker at home, this premixed drink rivals some of the best you can get from a bar or restaurant.  

A simple coffee cocktail can deliver a familiar and comforting taste experience, while still leaving open the door for plenty of personalization. In an espresso martini (which may very well prove itself to be the cocktail of the decade) try swapping out the usual vodka with a rum or an agave spirit. Replace the Irish whiskey in your after-dinner Irish coffee with your favorite bourbon or Scotch. Use a coffee-based amaro in—or even tip a freshly brewed shot of espresso into—a Negroni riff. The possibilities are endless. 

Check out three of my favorite coffee cocktail recipes below.

Carajillo

Get the recipe >

Espresso Martini

Get the recipe >

Wise Guy Cocktail

Get the recipe >

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Over the last few years, as craft bars have increasingly sought to revive easy and approachable cocktails associated with retro trends harkening back to the Disco Era, the over-the-top 1990s, and even dive bars, many drinks that were once shunned by such “serious” establishments are now being thoughtfully reconsidered. Taking a somewhat cleaner, sleeker form, these nostalgic serves often feature premium spirits and other specialty ingredients and are assembled using more from-scratch preparation techniques. This cinnamon-scented apple martini recipe is my own reinterpretation of the candy-sweet classic appletini. Be sure to seek out an unsweetened apple brandy such as Calvados—I like Lemorton—or a premium American brand like Laird’s. (If you like a sweeter drink, add more toasted cinnamon syrup to taste.)

Stop Hating On the Appletini

Get the recipe >

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Magbunga is Tagalog for “fruit” or “blossom” and indicates the culmination of a harvest or yield.  In the case of this drink, the name is a nod to classic Tiki cocktail culture. Filipino ingredients and recipes inspired the recipe, which is an homage to the midcentury Filipino bartenders who contributed their know-how and creativity to the genre—notably Mariano Licudine, Bob Esmino, and Ray Barrientos.

I’ve used a number of ingredients that are common in tropical cocktails and also in Filipino cuisine: rum, pineapple, coconut, banana, and calamansi. The formula is also partly inspired by the piña colada, but I’ve swapped in nondairy banana milk for the coconut cream to render a slightly drier, more aromatic drink. The coconut flavor is deployed as an infusion to bring in those creamy, floral notes, without the added sweetness. As the name implies, flavors unfold and blossom as you move from noticing the nut and flora notes on the nose, take in the drinks dry, slightly creamy palate, and experience a dry, slightly spicy finish courtesy the rum and banana.

This recipe also lends itself well to batching up for a crowd: simply combine all the ingredients in a nonreactive container and chill for three to four hours before serving over ice. Oleo saccharum can be ordered online, but it’s also easy to make your own. For the infused rum, I suggest seeking out the Filipino brand Kasama.

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The classic martini endures for many reasons, not least among them the drink’s simplicity. The textbook formula includes just two ingredients: dry vermouth, and either gin or vodka, with proportions and garnishes to be easily personalized to the drinker’s tastes. Apart from sharing a similarly high-octane ABV, the rainbow of colorful and candy-sweet ‘tinis that have emerged since the minimal version’s birth bears little resemblance to their 19th-century brethren. That said, a few of these unorthodox variations—in particular, the appletini—have earned their own place in classic cocktail canon.

In the summer of 1997, Los Angeles bartender Adam Karsten invented a sweet-tart apple drink for a now-shuttered West Hollywood martini bar called Lola’s. He named the drink, which was an immediate hit, the “Adam’s Apple.” Eventually, Lola’s just started calling it the apple martini, and as bars and restaurants around the globe adopted the simple vodka-and-sour-apple-schnapps mixture as their own, the name was simplified further to the appletini we know and love (or love to hate) today.

There is certainly a “classic appletini recipe,” but the door is open for all manner of variations. Over time, and especially over the past five years, craft bartenders have endeavored to reimagine the drink, updating it with lighter, brighter, higher-quality ingredients. The moral of the story? A classic serve—be it a traditional martini or its apple-y offspring—endures numerous iterations as trends and tastes change. But the refreshing (and boozy) sentiment remains the same.

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As with many cocktails, the origins of the cosmopolitan recipe are the subject of much dispute. Some spirits historians and armchair aficionados claim the drink originated in a beachside Florida bar. Others credit Dale DeGroff, the original chief bartender at New York City’s legendary Rainbow Room. But by and large, most industry pros acknowledge Toby Cecchini as the inventor of the drink as we know it today. 

As his inspiration, Cecchini cites a pink vodka-based drink with triple sec and grenadine that was popular in San Francisco gay bars in the 1980s. While working as a bartender at Manhattan’s Odeon in 1988, the New York bartender reimagined the Californian recipe with premium citrus flavored vodka, Cointreau, and a splash of cranberry. Not long after, there was no question that the Cosmo had become the “It Girl” Drink of the 1990s. The distinction was further cemented by its prominent role in the nightlife escapades of the original Sex and the City cast, who carried the pink drink squarely into the decade’s cultural zeitgeist. And while the cosmopolitan experienced a slight dip in cachet when the retro, bitters-and-whiskey-driven cocktail movement exploded in the aughts, a glimmer of cosmo nostalgia seems to have emerged. Deb Perelman likes them, and Ina Garten does, too.

In fact, the cosmo takes its cue from the similarly sweet-tart sidecar, while using dive bar staples—vodka and cranberry—in place of the fancier Cognac, making for a more accessible and quaffable serve. This latter characteristic is part of the drink’s appeal as well as its primary danger: it’s far too easy to knock back two or even three of them if you are not paying attention. But I argue that the original recipe is no less worthy of a place in the craft cocktail canon. Cecchini’s original decision to use Cointreau—a premium French orange liqueur—over well triple sec elevates the recipe, placing it firmly in the craft cocktail realm while still welcoming the everyday drinker to the party.

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