How Cafe Culture Has Influenced Cocktails Beyond the Espresso MartiniThe Espresso Martini has hogged the throne long enough — it’s time to make room for other drinks incorporating ingredients found at the cafe. Drinkers are becoming increasingly intrigued by these flavors, and bartenders are taking note, too. Some are seeking recipes that are a little less high-maintenance than the Espresso Martini, while even more are inspired by the wide range of flavors available in coffee and tea. They’ve existed long before the Espresso Martini’s most recent resurgence, after all — now they’ve just been given a bigger stage and a brighter spotlight. Both coffee and tea are helping bartenders keep up with consumers’ ever-present curiosity for different flavors and aromas in their drinks, bringing characteristics to cocktails that are both comfortingly familiar but adventurously novel in adult-beverage form. Especially as the newest generation of legal imbibers proves to value flavor over things like category or style, this combination is effectively engaging. Coffee and tea are also key players in the expansion and evolution of low- and no-alcohol beverages. They bring complexity, sweetness, bitterness and mouthfeel to drinks that might otherwise feel flat sans booze. | 