The Espresso Martini. London’s favourite drink. Sometimes though, even a classic needs a little twist every now and again. Mr Black, a cold press coffee liqueur from Australia, is looking to reinvent the Espresso Martini with the help of a revolutionary app called Drinki.
Throughout London Coffee Festival (7-10th April), Mr Black, a cold press coffee liqueur that’s hand made using a dark blend of pure Australian grain spirit and three single origin Arabica coffee beans, has tasked four bars located near the Truman Brewery to reinvent the Espresso Martini.
During the course of the festival, 400 free drinks will be redeemable through the Drinki app which is free to download from the App Store and Play Store. Although Drinki offers its users one drink a night, every night, all year round, the special “London Coffee Week Mr Black Drinki offer” is available for a limited time and is on a first come, first served basis, so once they are gone, they are gone.
The Cocktail Trading Company, Loves Company, Upstairs at the Ten Bells and 46 & Mercy Shoreditch are the four bars offering their take on the Espresso Martini.
Here’s what they’ll be serving up:-
The Cocktail Trading Company presents:
HANDY NIGHTCAP
15ml Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur
30ml Bourbon
20ml Sweet Vermouth
1 Dash Chartreuse
2 Dash Terry’s Chocolate Orange Bitters
Loves Company presents:
BLACK FLIP
35 ml Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur
15 ml Vanilla Vodka
15 ml Sugar Syrup
30 ml of Fresh Espresso
30ml Milk
1 Cold Drip Coffee Ice Cube
Upstairs at the Ten Bells presents:
MR NERO
25ml Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur
35ml Calle Blanco(Tequila)
25ml Averna
1 Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cube
46 & Mercy present:
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
30ml Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur
30ml Dark Rum
30ml Espresso
10ml Sugar Syrup
In addition to offering drinks via the Drinki app, Mr Black will also be hosting a stand at the London Coffee Festival where they will be offering samples of Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur and showing just why the drink is described as cocktail ketchup for dark spirits and stirred cocktails.
Tom Baker, Co-founder of Mr Black Cold Press Coffee Liqueur said: “The era of sticky, sweet coffee liqueurs jam packed with vanilla flavouring is over. The difference between Mr Black and other coffee liqueurs? It’s pretty simple, we like coffee and we want that flavour to come through in our drink. It seemed like the perfect time, what with the coffee festival, to introduce people to Mr Black and to reinvent the Espresso Martini, if only in four days. By downloading Drinki, people will be able to see and taste these amazing drinks at no cost, so get to it!”
Mr Black – the bitter, dark drink with an unadulterated coffee kick – is made entirely using a cold extraction process. Speciality Arabica coffee beans from Ethiopia, Brazil and Papua New Guinea are chosen for their distinctive flavours. The blend is then cold extracted over 12 hours to produce a full-flavoured coffee without the acidity and eye-squinting bitterness of an espresso.
The next stage in the making of Mr Black uses a 250kg basket press stolen from a winery, which is used to extract the rich liquid from inside the coffee infusion. Time consuming yes, but worth every minute. The cold press coffee is then blended with pure Australian grain spirit, which allows the rich flavour of the coffee blend to shine through.
Drinki is a London based start-up with an extensive bar network, working with a variety of venues from speakeasy cocktail bars to party places. Drinki App is free to download from App Store and Play Store, and gives the user their first drink on the house every night by letting them pay with their Facebook Check In.
Where to find the bars:
The Cocktail Trading Company – 68 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6GQ
Loves Company – 104 City Rd, London EC1V 2NR
Upstairs at the Ten Bells – 84 Commercial St, Spitalfields, London E1 6LY
46&Mercy – 46 Commercial St, London E1 6LT
DRINKS ENTHUSIAST 