Don't Make This Simple Mistake With Coffee-Based Cocktails - Tasting Table

"One of Tasting Table expert James Hastings' biggest mistakes you can make with coffee cocktails is assuming you can get away with cheap or just not great coffee because you're mixing it with other ingredients. "The powerful flavor of coffee means that it typically forms the foundation of the cocktail," Hastings explained, "so using an inferior brew can lead to weak or unbalanced flavors.""

"Many sometimes assume the same with cooking wine, but for both wine in food and coffee in cocktails, you will still taste any flaws, and they will ruin the rest of the dish or drink. As Hastings noted, because coffee makes up so much of a coffee cocktail, if it's too bitter, too astringent, or too weak, your entire beverage suffers. If you wouldn't drink a coffee on its own, you don't want to drink it in a cocktail."

Coffee's roast, chocolate, earthy, and fruity notes make it a versatile partner for spirits ranging from vodka and rum to whiskey. Classic coffee cocktails include espresso martini, Irish coffee, and the Revolver, all relying on coffee as a central ingredient. Because coffee typically forms the foundation of these cocktails, low-quality or poorly treated coffee produces weak, unbalanced, or ruined flavors. Cheap or flawed coffee can introduce bitterness, astringency, or weakness that negatively affects the entire beverage. Quality coffee need not be expensive, but it should be reliable and palatable on its own to ensure a successful coffee cocktail.

Read at Tasting Table