Vietnamese Coffee Martini
Before traveling to Vietnam, I had no idea that they were known for their coffee. To be honest, when I landed in Ho Chi Minh City, I knew an embarrassingly small amount about Southeast Asia in general. Fortunately, I started filling those gaps immediately.
One of the probably less important, but definitely more delicious, gaps was the coffee. The coffee grown there is by far the best I have ever tasted. Much of it is produced by individual small farms. These individual farmers dry their small crop in front of their homes and then bring them all together for the roasting process, mixing all their batches together and making a really delicious product.
Another unique characteristic of Vietnamese coffee, and the inspiration for this martini, is what they like to put in their mug. In Vietnam, the coffee is typically quite strong and made in small, single-cup filters. Sweetened condensed milk is added to create an amazingly rich and delicious cup of coffee.
For a Vietnamese Coffee, I think that the perfect ratio is about 1 tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk to 4 ounces of espresso-strength coffee. This ratio makes a really rich, sweet coffee that tastes to me just like what you get at a café in Saigon.
In this martini some of that coffee is replaced with vodka. The result is a cocktail that has that amazing rich flavor, and also gets you a little loose. Plus, with two ounces of espresso in each one, these are fuel for a seriously fun night. Perfect for battling the food coma of way too much delicious Vietnamese food.
Vietnamese Coffee Martini
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. vodka
2 oz. espresso
1 tbsp condensed milk
3 coffee beans to garnish
Directions:
Mix together the espresso and condensed milk and pour into a shaker with plenty of ice. Add the vodka and shake with moderate vigor. Too much shaking and the foam will be too thick, too little and you won’t have enough to float the coffee beans.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and carefully arrange the coffee bean garnish atop the foam.
Enjoy!
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