As the old adage should have gone, we like our cocktails how we like our coffee. Strong. And paired well. Turns out java and spirits, especially this time of year, make for great bedfellows.

“Coffee and booze can play off of each other in an amazing way,” explains Ryan Wainwright, bartender for the LA hotspot Terrine. “I think a lot of it has to do with coffee’s richness and oily, full mouth feel. Coffee has such a variety of flavor thanks to regional differences and terroir. Understanding its flavor profiles can really accent the alcohol you are using.”

So drink up. Herein, we present a new take on hot buttered rum, an Irish Coffee recipe from the certified World’s Best Bar and a couple of cold brew-inspired takes, for warmer days ahead.

Mr. Menotti’s Hot Buttered Coffee

1 heaping Tbsp of butter batter
7 oz of hot French pressed coffee (at Terrine, we use Four Barrel)
1.5 oz Hamilton Guyana Rum 

Stir and serve with spoon in a glass. To make butter batter cream one stick of room temperature butter with 2 cups brown sugar, 1 tsp of cinnamon, .5 tsp of nutmeg, and a pinch each of cloves and salt. Refrigerate till firm.

Mixologist: Ryan Wainwright at Terrine

Blue Mountain Daiquiri

1.5 oz Plantation 3 Star White Rum
.5 oz Smith and Cross Navy Strength Rum
.75 oz fresh lime juice
3 barspoons coffee caster sugar

Shake and pour. To make coffee caster simply add two cups sugar to coffee beans and let sit overnight in an airtight container. The next day sift the beans and sugar apart with a fine mesh strainer (like a tea strainer). You can reuse the beans to make more sugar up to three times.

Mixologist: Clint Rogers from Dogma Group/Presidio Chicago

Oaxacan Coffee

1 segment of Abuelita Mexican hot chocolate
1 pinch of cinnamon
1.5 oz of Primario Mezcal
.75 oz raw sugar syrup
5 oz hot Sumatra Mandheling coffee

Stir. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Mixologist: Giovanni Martinez at Nighthawk: Breakfast Bar

Pecan Old Fashioned

2 oz Jura 10-year single malt
.25 oz Demerara simple syrup
5 dashes house-made toasted pecan bitters
Coffee ice cube

Mix. Serve in rocks glass.

Mixologist: Ken Furusawa at 1300 on Fillmore

Macha Irish Coffee

1.5 oz Jameson Black Barrel
1.5 oz hot water
1.5 oz hot coconut milk
.25 oz agave nectar
1 tbsp matcha powder

Aha: our one coffee cocktail without coffee. Whisk hot water and Jameson and agave nectar together. In a heatproof mug, whisk matcha powder with a small amount of hot water/Jameson/agave mix to create a paste. Continue whisking hot water slowly to ensure all the matcha is incorporated and not lumping. Use a handheld milk frother to create foam with the coconut milk in a metal pitcher. Pour frothy coconut milk over the matcha with your favorite latte art.

Mixologist: Kevin Denton, formerly of Alder, currently mixologist for Pernod Ricard

Coffee and Cigarettes

.75 oz Las Hormigas Mezcal
.75 oz Cynar
.75 oz Punt e Mes (Vermouth)
Cold Brew Float

Stir and top with cold brew (we recommend Rise Nitro Cold Brew) in a glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

Mixologist: Brian Smith, Colonie

Dale DeGroff’s Irish Coffee

4 oz Dead Rabbit Sumatra Mandheling Coffee (hot)
.5 oz Demerara Sugar Syrup (2 parts Demerara sugar to 1 part water heated until the sugar dissolves)
1.5 oz Premium Irish Whiskey
Cream

Prepare the drink in an 8 oz stemmed glass. Combine the coffee, sugar syrup and Irish Whiskey. Hand whip the cream so that it still pours and floats on top of the coffee. Never sweeten the cream.

Mixologist: Dale DeGroff for The Dead Rabbit

Read the rest at Insidehook

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