4 Espresso Martini Variations You Can Make at Home Tonight

You Bought the Bottle. Now What?

You brought home a bottle of Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur and made one espresso martini. Maybe two. Then the bottle sat on your bar cart collecting dust while you cycled through the same vodka-soda routine. The espresso martini variations you actually want—the ones that justify keeping coffee liqueur stocked year-round—are simpler than you think. Four builds. Same base spirit. Different moods.

Each recipe below starts with Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur, made in-house at our Sacramento distillery using locally roasted beans and our Classic Vodka as the base. The liqueur does most of the work. You're just steering it.

The Classic Espresso Martini (Your Baseline)

This is the build every other variation riffs on. Get this right and the rest fall into place.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Midtown Classic Vodka
• 1 oz Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 0.5 oz fresh espresso (or Cold Brew Concentrate as we do at the distillery)
• 0.25 oz simple syrup (optional, only if you want it sweeter)

Method

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake hard for 15 seconds—you want that foam cap. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with three coffee beans if you're feeling traditional.

Why this works: The coffee liqueur already has sugar and cold brew concentrate. The fresh espresso adds brightness and the foam you see in every Instagram shot. The vodka lifts the ABV without interfering with coffee flavor.

Coconut Espresso Martini (Tropical, Not Sweet)

Add cream of coconut and you get a drink that tastes like vacation without turning into dessert.

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 0.5 oz fresh espresso
• 0.5 oz cream of coconut (Coco López or similar; not coconut milk)

Method

Shake all ingredients with ice for 20 seconds—the cream of coconut needs extra emulsification. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish necessary; the foam will be thicker and creamier than the classic.

Why this works: Cream of coconut is already sweetened, so you drop the simple syrup. The fat content smooths out the espresso's acidity. The result is creamy without being heavy, tropical without tasting like sunscreen.

Spiced Espresso Martini (Fall in a Glass)

Cinnamon syrup turns the espresso martini into something you'd order in November. Also works with a half-ounce of Licor 43 if you have it.

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 0.5 oz fresh espresso
• 0.5 oz cinnamon syrup (or 0.25 oz simple + 3 dashes Angostura bitters)

Method

Shake hard with ice. Fine-strain. Garnish with a cinnamon stick or a dusting of cinnamon on the foam if you want the visual.

Why this works: Cinnamon and coffee is the easiest flavor pairing in the book. The syrup adds warmth without covering the cold brew's roasted notes. If you don't have cinnamon syrup, the bitters hack gets you 80% of the way there.

Sacramento Almond Orgeat Martini (Our Local Take)

This one's a nod to Sacramento's almond-growing Central Valley roots. Orgeat—almond syrup—adds marzipan richness and a faint floral note that plays incredibly well with cold brew.

Ingredients

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 0.5 oz fresh espresso
• 0.5 oz orgeat (almond syrup; Small Hand Foods or Liber & Co. are solid brands)

Method

Shake with ice. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a single Amarena cherry or a few sliced almonds floated on the foam.

Why this works: Orgeat is rich but not cloying. The almond oils cut through the espresso's bitterness the same way amaretto does, but with more nuance. This is the variation that surprises people who thought they knew espresso martinis.

What You Actually Need to Stock

If you're setting up a home bar to make these regularly, here's the short list:

• One bottle Midtown Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• One bottle Midtown Classic Vodka
• Fresh espresso or very strong cold brew (Nespresso pods work fine)
• Simple syrup, cinnamon syrup, cream of coconut, orgeat—pick two to start
• A cocktail shaker and fine strainer
• Coupe glasses (chilled in the freezer for 10 minutes before you build)

You don't need all four syrups at once. Start with the classic and the coconut variation. Once you've made those a dozen times, add the spiced and Sacramento builds. The liqueur is the constant. Everything else is modular.

Grab a bottle from our distillery bottle shop or order online. If you want to see how we make the Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur in-house, book a distillery tour and watch head distiller JP walk through the full process from roasted beans to bottling.