Trend Watch: can coffee cocktails conquer the world?

These days though, the baristas will do it for you.

Indeed, the days of keeping your booze and hot beverages separate are over - enter the coffee cocktail. And as you can imagine, it goes quite bit further than a flat white with a gag-inducing boozy aftertaste.

For operators, offering coffee cocktails can be a profitable way of keeping on trends with your drinks offer.

Caffeine boost​

 At Mark’s Bar, in Soho, espresso martinis are one of the top selling cocktails on offer.

“I’d say we serve contemporary classic coffee cocktails,” says Adam McGurk, bar manager at Mark’s Bar. “We make the espresso martini with a cognac based liquor and fresh espresso with a touch of sugar.

“It’s very simple but it does incredibly well – it’s definitely been in our top three sellers for at least the last three years,” he adds. “And their GP is pretty healthy at around 75%.”

McGurk says peak sales time for coffee cocktails is after dinner, when appetites are sated and once-excitable diners run the risk of slipping into food-induced comas.

“After people have had a bite to eat and want to continue drinking they definitely put a few away to get that caffeine boost,” says McGurk.

Summer splash​

Bistro by Shot in Parsons Green, London, is set to launch a summer iced coffee bar, featuring a range of coffee cocktails using locally sourced ingredients.

 “It all began with a friendly disagreement over the best way to liven up our signature caffe shakerato (think ice, liquid sugar and a shot of expresso combined in a cocktail shaker and strained into a martini glass) this summer,” says John Bona, owner of Bistro by Shot.

“Was it vanilla bean liquor? Anisette? Amaretto? Irish cream whiskey? We agreed to offer them all alongside some other chilled coffees and coffee cocktails and let the customers decide.”

Sweet Tooth​

At the Toy Shop Bar, in Putney, customers can tickle their sweet tooth (and punish their liver) with a variety of coffee-infused cocktails including the slightly daunting Walnut Willy’s Wodka Martini; containing homemade, walnut-infused vodka with hazelnut essence and cardamom infused chocolate liquor shaken with a fresh shot of espresso, orange zest and an Armagnac walnut.