Double Black
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 16% ABV ∙
A modern coffee cocktail, the Double Black shakes cacao-and-coffee spiced rum with Crème de Café liqueur, fresh espresso, and chocolate bitters, served up. Roasted espresso leads, backed by a dark cocoa sweetness and a warm rum finish that stays closer to dessert than to a jolt of caffeine — a fitting after-dinner pour.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Cacao & coffee spiced rum 40 mlCrème de Café liqueur 40 mlEspresso coffee 40 mlChocolate bitters 2 dashes
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with cacao powder
Tips
- Pull the espresso fresh and shake it straight away with plenty of ice — the shake chills it fast, and coffee left standing loses the aroma the drink is built on.
- Shake all three liquids and the bitters hard with plenty of ice for a full 15 seconds to build a thick, cold foam typical of coffee-forward shaken drinks.
- Fine-strain into the chilled martini glass to keep out ice shards and coffee grounds, giving a silky, opaque black surface for the cacao powder garnish.
History
The Double Black is a variation on the Espresso Martini, a drink most accounts credit to British bartender Dick Bradsell, who is said to have created it in London in the 1980s, commonly dated to around 1983 at the Soho Brasserie. The story goes that a young woman, remembered by Bradsell only as a model, asked him for a drink that would wake her up and get her intoxicated at once, prompting him to combine espresso with vodka and coffee liqueur; the woman's identity is disputed, with Marie Helvin, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell all named in different tellings, and some accounts place the invention a year or so later at Fred's Club rather than the Soho Brasserie. The Double Black keeps that stimulating coffee-cocktail concept but replaces the vodka with a cacao-and-coffee-spiced rum and adds chocolate bitters, turning the classic into a chocolate-forward variant.
FAQ
What is a Double Black?
The Double Black is a shaken coffee cocktail made with cacao-and-coffee spiced rum, Crème de Café liqueur, fresh espresso, and chocolate bitters, served up in a martini glass. It sits at about 16% ABV, making it lighter than most spirit-forward cocktails, and is finished with a dusting of cacao powder.
What is Double Black made of?
Cacao-and-coffee spiced rum, Crème de Café liqueur, freshly brewed hot espresso, and a couple of dashes of chocolate bitters, shaken and strained into a martini glass. The espresso is added hot straight from the machine, then shaken with ice to chill and aerate it before straining.
Is Double Black shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The hot espresso needs to be chilled and aerated quickly, and shaking also builds the light foam that sits on top of the drink; stirring would leave it flat and under-chilled.
What glass is Double Black served in?
A martini glass, served up with a dusting of cacao powder on top and no ice in the glass.
What's the best way to drink Double Black?
Drink it right after it's made, while the espresso foam still sits on top and the drink is properly cold. It works best as an after-dinner sipper rather than a session cocktail, since the coffee and cacao lean toward dessert rather than refreshment.
Is Double Black vegan?
Yes, this recipe is vegan, vegetarian, and lactose-free, and it contains no dairy or animal-derived ingredients despite its rich, creamy texture.
