Espresso Martinis originated in London in 1983 and have become a top global bar favorite, ranking fifth worldwide and first in a portion of bars. Their popularity has grown again after fading, supported by better coffee, stronger cocktail culture, and a social effect where ordering multiple drinks spreads demand. A major driver is the improvement of coffee liqueurs, which previously often contained little real coffee and relied on sweetness and artificial flavors. Modern coffee spirits take coffee seriously, producing less syrupy, more authentic taste. Testing shows many bottles work well across multiple uses, including sipping, White Russians, and shots.
"The buzzy cocktail was first served by London cocktail connoisseur Dick Bradshell back in 1983 in response to a young model requesting a cocktail that would " wake her up, then fuck her up.""
"It's currently the fifth most popular drink in the world's top bars, according to a 2026 Drinks International survey (and the number-one drink in 10% of the bars that responded). And its popularity only seems to be increasing, making it the odd drinking fad that came, went away and then returned much stronger."
""I won't say brands, but you used to buy a bottle and it said coffee on the front of it, but in reality, there was very little coffee in the bottle," says Tom Baker, founder of Mr Black, the brand primarily responsible for the modern-day quality increase of coffee spirits. "The bean counters want to take one coffee bean out of those products every year to save money and put in more sugar and more caramel, and that's why they're invariably too sweet and too fake and don't taste very nice.""
"Thankfully, today's coffee liqueurs really do take the "coffee" part seriously. For the most part, these expressions are not syrupy or artificial tasting. That said, we tested nearly two dozen bottles and found an ideal use for 16 of these java-based spirits, from smooth sippers to White Russians and even shots."
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