In the thick of the holiday stretch, ‘tis the season for piping hot coffee cocktails. Though Irish coffee and the like are classics for a reason, the variety of recipes being developed by coffee professionals, bartenders and home mixologists today is growing. New places like Corretto place their primary focus on coffee and espresso cocktails, while some baristas have even played around with coffee mocktails of sorts, as in the trending espresso and tonic.
Seattle’s Marcus Boni has been developing recipes for brewed coffee, specifically for coffee brewed with the Bonavita system. A brand of Ballard’s Espresso Supply Co., Bonavita has recently achieved national distribution through Sur La Table and is available at several Northwest coffee and kitchen stores including Mrs. Cook’s and Seattle Coffee Gear. It is one of only a few home brewing systems approved by the Specialty Coffee Association of America. Boni, Bonavita’s brand manager, perfected the art of fine coffee as VP of Retail at Chicago’s Intelligentsia and then as the Director of Community Development for the SCAA. Below are three of his coffee cocktail choices for the holidays—one with gin, one with rum and one with bourbon.
Flannel Shirt
3 lightly crushed juniper berries
½ ounce simple syrup (or to taste)
2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
1 ½ ounces gin
Coffee — We recommend using a coffee with pleasant acidity, possibly a coffee from Africa. Bonavita brewed with Caffe Ladro Ethiopia Wotona coffee from the Sidamo region.
Small cedar bough and spruce sprig for garnish.
Put crushed juniper berries into the bottom of a pre-warmed mug. Add simple syrup, aromatic bitters and gin. Top with freshly brewed coffee. Garnish with spruce sprig and set mug on cedar bough to release aroma.
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Rummy Gingerbread Man
3 teaspoons dark muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice blend (recipe follows)
1 ounce dark rum
Coffee — We recommend using a heavy bodied coffee, possibly an espresso roast. Bonavita brewed with Ladro Classic espresso roast coffee comprised of coffees from Guatemala and El Salvador.
Whipped cream
Whole nutmeg, grated as garnish
Fill 8-ounce mug with hot water to warm it. Pour water out and add sugar, spice blend and dark rum. Stir to dissolve sugar. Fill mug with hot coffee, top with whipped cream and finish with grated nutmeg or a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Gingerbread spice blend
2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
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Lodge Toddy
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon honey
1 ounce bourbon
Coffee — We recommend using a well-balanced and freshly roasted coffee. Bonavita brewed with a Central American coffee from El Salvador.
Slice of orange
Put cloves, cinnamon stick and honey into the bottom of a mug. Add bourbon and stir to blend. Fill mug with hot coffee. Twist and squeeze a slice of orange it to release the juice and oils from the peel and drop it into the mug to finish.
