Mocktail Espresso Martini

Ingredients

The classic Espresso Martini recipe is made with vodka, coffee liqueur, and espresso and garnished with three coffee beans. If you love an espresso martini, also check out my Espresso Martini with Baileys and Gin Espresso Martini.

The goal with this virgin espresso martini is to make your cocktail non-alcoholic but keep the same flavor and sophistication. You could use a non-alcoholic vodka here, but since vodka is essentially flavorless, I don’t personally see the point.

Espresso – purists will say you must use a hot shot of fresh espresso for all your espresso martinis. I say it’s perfectly fine to buy a double espresso from your local coffee shop or make an espresso martini recipe with cold brew coffee.

Simple syrup – simple syrup is a one to one mixture of sugar dissolved in water. You can make simple syrup recipes in all sorts of flavors. I recommend demerara syrup for this recipe over white sugar because the minimally refined sugar adds more flavor to your mocktail espresso martini.

Heavy cream or any whipping cream will give you the rich foam you’re looking for.

Chocolate Bitters – think of bitters like you think of salt. Adding bitters to this virgin espresso martini or other cocktails, soda water, or even salad dressing brings out their flavors.

Variations and substitutions

• Use decaffeinated espresso in your mocktail espresso martini.
• Use a dairy-free whipping cream.
• Add a splash of hazelnut syrup or almond extract.

Recipe tips and tricks

The dry shake and reverse dry shakes are cocktail techniques that get you a foamy top on your cocktails without over-dilution. These techniques are useful in cocktails that include egg whites, like a vodka sour or Frangelico sour.

For this mocktail espresso martini, the one you pick will depend on whether your espresso is hot. If your espresso is cool, the dry shake is easiest. First add the espresso, cream, simple syrup, and bitters in a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake 20 to 30 seconds to foam, then add ice and shake to chill.

But if you’re using hot espresso, you’ll chill first to cool the espresso, remove the ice, and then dry shake for a reverse dry shake. In either case, strain your espresso martini mocktail into a chilled coupe and garnish with three espresso beans.

How to serve a non-alcoholic espresso martini

Tasters thought that this virgin espresso martini works best as a dessert cocktail, either on its own or to complement a rich chocolate dessert like caramel espresso brownies or triple layer chocolate cake.

Recipe FAQs

Related coffee-containing recipes

Check out all of the espresso and coffee-containing recipes from the Ugly Duckling Bakery archives, like: