The Espresso Martini has become one of the most-ordered cocktail on menus across the UK — and for good reason. Done well, it’s silky, bittersweet, and mouthfilling. Done badly, it’s a sickly, flat one-note sugar bomb. The difference almost always comes down to the coffee liqueur.
We built our Manchester Coffee Liqueur specifically to fix that problem. Most coffee liqueurs on the market lean hard into sweetness to mask cheap coffee extract. We went the other way: balanced acidity, real coffee character, and enough backbone to hold its own against vodka and fresh espresso rather than disappearing under it.
Here’s how we make ours, and how to get the best result at home.
What you’ll need
- 50ml vodka
- 25ml Manchester Coffee Liqueur
- 25ml freshly pulled espresso
- A cocktail shaker
- Coffee beans, for garnish
A note on the espresso: use it fresh as fresh is best… But hot espresso melts your ice really fast, as well as making it very difficult to get a good seal on the tin while you shake. Often resulting in your espresso martini ending up on your clean white shirt. Maybe let the coffee cool, but up to you!
The method
- Fill your shaker two-thirds full with ice.
- Add the vodka, Manchester Coffee Liqueur, and espresso.
- Shake hard for 15–20 seconds. This isn’t a gentle stir — you want a proper workout to build that signature foam on top. This makes so much difference to the finished drink – as aroma lives in the oils.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass, so you’re only pouring the liquid and leaving the ice shards behind.
- Garnish with three coffee beans, placed carefully on the foam.
Why balance matters here
Because an Espresso Martini has so few ingredients, every one of them is doing real work. A coffee liqueur that’s mostly sugar syrup with coffee flavouring added will flatten the drink — you’ll taste sweetness first and coffee a distant second. That’s the exact problem we set out to solve when we started making liqueurs in Central Manchester: treat sugar as one tool among several, not the whole recipe. Ours leans on authentic locally sourced high quality coffee and bitterness alongside the sweetness, so the coffee comes through clearly and the drink doesn’t cloy by the third sip.
A couple of variations worth trying
Espresso Martini, Manchester-style — swap the vodka for a small measure of Salford dark rum for a rounder, slightly spiced finish.
Affogato Martini — build the drink as above, then float a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on top instead of the coffee bean garnish. Dessert and cocktail in one glass.
Batch it for a party — multiply the vodka, liqueur, and espresso quantities and store in the fridge in a sealed bottle for up to 24 hours. Shake individual servings with ice just before serving so you’re not losing the foam.
Where to get it
Manchester Coffee Liqueur is handmade in small batches in Central Manchester, with full ingredient transparency on every label — something that isn’t legally required for alcoholic drinks in the UK, but we think it should be. Available as a full 700ml bottle or a 200ml mini, perfect for trying before you commit to the full size.
Shop the range at Mouse Kingdom Coffee Liqueur.
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