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🎄 The holiday party cocktail
The espresso martini has been around since 1980, and it gets more popular every year. December is when people look it up the most: everyone wants a glass of coffee, vodka and foam in hand before dinner. It shakes up in seconds, it looks great in a martini glass, and it always lands when you’ve got people over.
🥚 Mini Eggs crushed right in the shaker
This is a naughtier take on the famous coffee cocktail, inspired by an Easter treat: Mini Eggs, crushed at the bottom of the shaker before the rest goes in. You get a rich, chocolatey espresso martini that tastes like dessert. Mini Eggs are easy to find all year, not just at Easter, so nothing stops you from serving them at Christmas. Heads up, this is a variation, not a classic espresso martini.
🤝 Sarah Apéro’s recipe
This recipe is Sarah Apéro’s. We made it together as a collaboration: the recipe is hers, the photo is mine. There are a few cocktails like that on the site. If you like this one, try my N’Espresso pumpkin spice martini, my camping espresso martini or my bourbon Old Fashioned.
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☕ Cool the coffee before it hits the shaker.
Hot coffee melts the ice in one go, and your cocktail is watered down before you’ve even shaken it. Make the coffee ahead and let it cool all the way.
🫖 No espresso machine?
Very strong stovetop coffee from a moka pot does the job. Skip the instant stuff.
⏱️ Shake for about 15 seconds, not a full minute.
It’s easy to think you need a long shake for foam. The reference recipes call for more like 10 to 15 seconds, until the shaker is good and cold. Any longer and the ice melts, watering the drink down for nothing.
💧 Too watered down is a ruined drink. Too sweet is too.
A diluted espresso martini just tastes like stretched coffee, and there’s no saving it. Keep the coffee strong, the shake short, and don’t add sugar: the coffee liqueur and the Mini Eggs already bring plenty.
🍫 Double straining keeps the Mini Egg pieces out, and that’s on purpose.
The crushed Mini Eggs stay behind in the shaker and the fine strainer, so your glass comes out smooth. No pieces on the rim or on top, that’s not an oversight.
📅 Make ahead for a party.
The coffee is the part you do ahead: brew it extra strong, let it cool and keep it in the fridge. When it’s time to serve, all that’s left is shaking the Mini Eggs, liqueur and vodka with ice.
🥤 A non-alcoholic version?
I haven’t tested one, so take this as a possible adaptation: without the vodka and the coffee liqueur, you’re left with very strong cold coffee, shaken with crushed Mini Eggs. It’s closer to a chocolatey iced coffee than a martini. For another fall coffee drink, there’s my N’Espresso pumpkin spice martini, but that one keeps the alcohol.
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Ingredients
- A handful of Mini Eggs
- 1 ½ oz (45 ml) fresh espresso, cooled
- 1 oz (30 ml) coffee liqueur
- 1 oz (30 ml) vodka
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Preparation
- Using a pestle, crush the Mini Eggs in a shaker.
- Shake all ingredients with ice cubes.
- Double-strain into a martini glass, then serve.
Two usual reasons: coffee that’s still warm, which melts the ice, or a lazy shake. Use cold coffee and shake hard for about 15 seconds with plenty of ice.
Strong coffee, vodka and coffee liqueur. This espresso martini with Mini Eggs uses those three, plus a handful of Mini Eggs crushed at the bottom of the shaker.
Use very strong coffee from a moka pot, cooled before it goes in the shaker. I wouldn’t use instant coffee.
I haven’t tested a non-alcoholic version of this one. Without the vodka and the coffee liqueur, you’re left with very strong cold coffee shaken with Mini Eggs: more of a chocolatey iced coffee than a martini.
Yes, for the coffee: brew it ahead, extra strong, and keep it in the fridge, since it has to be cold anyway. The rest gets shaken with ice when you serve.
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