Cocktails with Espresso coffee
Espresso is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing near-boiling water under high pressure through finely ground coffee to draw a small, intense shot.
Taste profile
Roasted-coffee bitterness dominates, over medium acidity, a high aroma and a notably thick, viscous body.
How it's used
Reached for when a drink needs concentrated coffee flavour, colour and body in a small volume, it works both as a full base measure and as a shaken accent; its viscous concentration means a little contributes disproportionate intensity, and it is best used promptly before crema and aroma dissipate.
Substitutes for Espresso coffee
Cold brew coffee is the closest stand-in, carrying comparable coffee intensity when diluted to suit, though it lacks crema, hot-extracted brightness and the emulsified body; filter coffee preserves roasted-coffee flavour and aroma for a supporting role but is weaker and higher in volume, and no non-espresso coffee reproduces the pressure-emulsified crema and viscosity.
Often confused with
Espresso is a small, concentrated, high-pressure extraction topped with crema; filter coffee is a larger, weaker gravity-drip extraction with no crema and a thinner body.
