Silvana Coffee Cocktails @ 399

1/4 of an Espresso Martini Macca drops the flame

Espresso and Alcohol. Such a tantalising but deadly combination of stimulant and depressant pitted together in a vicious battle for who can do more damage to your sleep patterns. It’s not too often that I feel the limits of either my espresso or alcohol consumption tested (which is not to say I abuse either). But this little event held at 399 bar, an initiative of Silvana coffee, left my head in a state more akin to a Sunday morning after the worlds biggest bender.

Which is not to say that any of it wasn’t delicious, because it definitely was. Macca and Gary from 399 were mixing up espresso martinis, blazers made with 15 year old Glenfiddich whisky and inflused with coffee and cinnamon, and then to finish off, a coconut sorbet with limoncello over the top. Tom Wearne of European Foods Coffee Education Centre was also there behind the espresso machine, pumping out shots of Silvana and reprising his signature drink from the W.A Barista Competition last year, this time with the wonderful addition of chambord, which seemed to make the rest of the drink come alive that little bit more.

There was a who’s that of local food and coffee types around, and along with Mr Cafe Grendel, A slightly tipsy but holding it together Karen Cheng, and myself, a nice contingent of bloggers too.

We were excellently hosted by John Ferrari and Catherine Natale of European Foods who were showing off the new Silvana Exclusive blend of coffee they’ve put together, and food and cocktails flowed freely from the ever cool kids of 399.

A little tip for the casual punter though. If you’re going drink a near endless stream of coffee cocktails, each one with at least a shot of espresso in them. Be prepared to have a fitful sleep and some of the craziest dreams you’ve ever imagined, or perhaps just plan not to sleep for a week and have a couple more.

International Syndication

Well recently I was lucky enough to get my espresso cubes article picked up by slashfood.com, and now it seems that someone else has picked it up from there…

I must say, it’s rather strange seeing my photo and name attached to a post that is otherwise completely incomprehensible. So if anyone out there can translate Japanese for me, I would appreciate it.

Espresso Cubes

Got this idea from an unknown cocktail with a brown looking ice cube floating in it that I came across on a website and thought to myself… What if that ice cube were made of espresso ! To the bat mobile ! (or cafe… or… laundry that houses coffee machine).

About 20 shots of espresso later, and having perfected my technique using some of Ben’s excellent (20 day old and still kicking) barista competition blend… I now had an ice cube tray full of espresso. I think the results speak for themself.

Espresso Cube

Espresso Cube

Espresso Cube Cocktail

Espresso Cube

Look into my eyes

So to make an actual tasty drink out of these creations/abominations, I naturally did what any espresso loving alco would. Head to the liquour cabinet and throw in as many complimentary flavours as I could find. Kahlua was out as I already had the coffee covered. Pernod was played around with and then discarded as the aniseed was a little too over powering while the espresso was still frozen. In the end… and half drunk later… The conclusion was:

  • 1 Espresso Cube (or heart, and no you cannot substitute with instant coffee, this is an elitist cocktail)
  • 1 shot baileys
  • 1/2 shot contrieau
  • 2 shots of milk

Swirl, Sip, Savour :)