# Espresso Martini

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/espresso-martini/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> An espresso martini is a cocktail of vodka, fresh espresso and coffee liqueur, shaken hard with ice and strained into a chilled glass under a thick foam, garnished with three coffee beans. London bartender Dick Bradsell created it in the 1980s as the Vodka Espresso; the exact year is disputed.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Coffee cocktails
- Served: Cold
- Brewing method: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espresso/
- Origin: United Kingdom, London
- Glass: Chilled martini or coupe glass
- Also known as: Vodka Espresso, Pharmaceutical Stimulant

## Ingredients

- 50 ml vodka
- 25 ml double-strength espresso, freshly made and hot
- 10 ml Kahlúa
- 5 ml Tia Maria
- 5 ml sugar syrup
- 3 coffee beans, to garnish

## Steps

1. **Chill the glass**: Put a martini or coupe glass in the freezer, or fill it with ice and water while you work.
2. **Make the espresso**: Brew a strong espresso and use it straight away, while it's hot and still has its crema.
3. **Fill the shaker**: Add the vodka, sugar syrup, Tia Maria, Kahlúa and hot espresso to the shaker, then fill it with ice.
4. **Shake hard**: Shake hard, to chill the drink and whip up a thick foam.
5. **Strain and garnish**: Fine-strain into the chilled glass and float three coffee beans on the foam.

The **espresso martini** is a cocktail of **vodka**, fresh **espresso** and **coffee liqueur**, shaken hard with ice and strained into a chilled glass under a thick, creamy foam, with three coffee beans on top. It isn't a true martini at all: it was created in London by bartender **Dick Bradsell** as the **Vodka Espresso**, and only picked up its famous name in the 1990s. Difford's Guide calls it perhaps the best-known modern classic cocktail. Here's Bradsell's own recipe, and the much-retold story behind it.

## The short version

- **Vodka, hot espresso and coffee liqueur**, shaken hard with ice.
- **Hot, fresh espresso** makes the foam.
- **Three coffee beans** on top.
- **Created by Dick Bradsell** in London's Soho in the 1980s.
- **Three names**: Vodka Espresso, Pharmaceutical Stimulant, Espresso Martini.



## What's in an espresso martini?

Dick Bradsell's later recipe, printed by Difford's Guide as "Espresso Martini/Pharmaceutical Stimulant":

| Ingredient | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Good vodka | 50 ml |
| Cane sugar syrup | 5 ml |
| Tia Maria | 5 ml |
| Kahlúa | 10 ml |
| Double-strength espresso | 25 ml ("the better the coffee, the better the drink!") |
| Coffee beans | 3, to garnish |

Add everything to an empty shaker, add ice, shake and strain into a prechilled glass. Bradsell's test: "if you can see through it or it is brown, not black, it's wrong." Difford's Guide's own modern version leaves out the sugar and suggests adding a little sugar syrup only if your coffee liqueur needs it, plus a twist of lemon zest expressed over the top.

## How do you get the foam?

**Hot, fresh espresso.** It seems perverse to pour steaming coffee into a shaker of ice, Difford's Guide admits, but the espresso's crema is what makes the foam: let the coffee cool and the crema dies, "and you'll kill the cocktail". Shake hard, and fine-strain for a smooth head. For the shot itself, see our [espresso guide](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espresso/).

## Who invented the espresso martini?

**Dick Bradsell**, at the **Soho Brasserie** on Old Compton Street, London. He told Difford's Guide that the coffee machine sat right next to his station, "coffee grounds were everywhere, so coffee was very much on my mind", and vodka was all anyone drank. A customer, said to be a model, asked for a drink that would wake her up and then knock her out. Who she was is unknown: Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are often named, but Difford's Guide points out they were 9 and 13 at the time, and Bradsell's daughter Beatrice told Punch he "took that to the grave".

The date is less certain than the man:

| When | Who says so |
| --- | --- |
| About 1983 | Difford's Guide; "the given date", says the Evening Standard |
| 1985 | Beatrice Bradsell, because the film *Absolute Beginners* (released 1986) was being shot in Soho at the time (Punch) |
| Late 1980s, at Fred's Club | Bradsell himself, "with a mischievous smile" (Evening Standard) |
| 1981 or 1982 | Sophie Parkin, who says he made it for her, as told to GQ (Evening Standard) |

## How did it get its names?

It began as the **Vodka Espresso**, an off-menu special served **on the rocks**: vodka and espresso with a little sugar syrup, no coffee liqueur, Punch says. It reached a menu at **Match EC1** in 1997; Punch says that version used coffee liqueur and was served in a stemmed glass, and Difford's Guide credits a bartender called Vasco there with first serving it straight up in a martini glass. By the end of the 1990s the name **Espresso Martini** had stuck, though who coined it is disputed. In 1998 Bradsell renamed it the **Pharmaceutical Stimulant** for Damien Hirst's Pharmacy restaurant in Notting Hill, where he ran the bar; Punch says that name lasted until 2003.

## Espresso martini vs other coffee cocktails

- **[Irish coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/irish-coffee/):** hot coffee and Irish whiskey under floating cream.
- **[Carajillo](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/carajillo/):** espresso with Licor 43, layered or shaken.
- **[Caffè corretto](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/caffe-corretto/):** espresso "corrected" with grappa or sambuca.
- **[Affogato](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/affogato/):** espresso poured over ice cream; a spirit is optional.

Explore every drink in the [coffee cocktails chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/coffee-cocktails/).

## Words used in this guide

- [Crema](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/crema/): Crema is the golden-brown foam on top of an espresso.

## FAQs

### Who invented the espresso martini?

London bartender Dick Bradsell, at the Soho Brasserie on Old Compton Street. The story goes that a customer asked him for a drink to wake her up and then knock her out. Difford's Guide and Punch both tell it; the customer was never named.

### When was the espresso martini invented?

It's disputed. Difford's Guide says circa 1983; Bradsell's daughter Beatrice thinks 1985; Bradsell himself once said the late 1980s, and Sophie Parkin told GQ he made it for her in 1981 or 1982, the Evening Standard reports.

### Was the original made with coffee liqueur?

Not at first, Punch says: the Soho Brasserie Vodka Espresso was vodka and espresso with a little sugar syrup, on the rocks. Coffee liqueur came later. Bradsell's own later recipe, given by Difford's Guide, uses both Kahlúa and Tia Maria.

### Why does it need hot espresso?

For the foam. Difford's Guide says the espresso's crema is key, so use it fresh and hot: let the coffee cool and the crema dies, "and you'll kill the cocktail".

### Why three coffee beans?

It comes from the Italian way of serving sambuca con la mosca, "with the fly", Difford's Guide explains, where three floating beans stand for health, wealth and happiness.

## Sources

- [Espresso martini](https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/725/espresso-martini)
- [How the espresso martini became a modern classic](https://punchdrink.com/articles/how-espresso-martini-became-modern-classic-cocktail-recipe/)
- [The best espresso martinis in London](https://uk.news.yahoo.com/best-espresso-martinis-london-090000451.html)