Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/490399
www.cheersonline.com 36 • April 2015 TWEAK OR UPGRADE THE CLASSICS There's nothing wrong with offering traditional coffee- based or fl avored drinks, but you can set your concept apart by providing an exceptional or unusual twist. Irish Coffee variations include Calypso Coffee, which adds rum and Kahlua to coffee, Coffee Royale, adding cognac and sugar, and President's Coffee, adding cherry brandy. A craft or regional twist can also give a classic drink a jolt. For instance, Pepe Le Moko, a cocktail den run by mixologist Jeffrey Morgenthaler at the Ace Hotel in Portland, OR, offers an Espresso Martini made with Stumptown coffee extract, Kahlua, overproof vodka and lemon oil. The $11 coffee drink is a big seller for the bar and ties into Portland's strong coffee culture. THINK BEYOND THE SWEET Laura Clark, a lead barista at Kaldi's Coffee in Kansas City and an avid cocktailian, fi nds coffee-drink inspiration in The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. She recently developed a Caprese-inspired, nonalcoholic coffee drink. "I used a Nicaraguan coffee that had notes of white grape, cherry and dark chocolate," Clark says. "I knew I wanted to make an iced drink, and found that using the [coffee and espresso maker] AeroPress brought a juicy coffee with a ton of acidity that reminded me of tomatoes." She incorporated a local fi g balsamic vinegar, "which added earthiness and bitterness to the drink," Clark says. "For sweetened, I did a basil-infused sugar on the rim." WORK WITH COFFEE REDUCTIONS Using a coffee reduction is another way to preserve the full fl avor of a java cocktail. You can make it by brewing coffee at a few times normal strength or simmering regular coffee in a saucepan until it reduces by half. Brass Union, which opened this past June in Sommerville, MA, serves a drink called the Esqueleto. The $10 cocktail blends Espolon reposado tequila, a coffee reduction, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, lemon, Thai chili peppers and a house- made passion fruit soda. And the Rum Line, which opened late last year in the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, serves a drink called the Cargo The Cold Pressed Andes from Red Star Tavern in Portland, OR, a cold-brew cocktail with vanilla vodka, creme de cacao and Menta Branca. A latte at Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters. The Cargo Ship cocktail at the Rum Line in Miami Beach uses a coffee reduction with Ron Zacapa 23 rum, Batavia Arrack and mole bitters; it's served in a glass that's been rinsed with Talisker Storm Scotch.