So let’s talk coffee for a minute.
First off, I should warn you that my coffee and beer preferences are reversed. Beer-wise, give me a good, rich stout or a nice, thick porter. Lighter beers trigger my acid reflux, meaning my favorite beers are so dark that light can’t escape their gravitational pull. With coffee, I’m the other way around: unless it’s espresso going into a mocha, a medium roast is typically the darkest I go. My goal is always to put as little sweetener in my coffee as possible, so I’m drawn to a lot of Ethiopian coffees because of their natural sweet and floral notes.
At this point, I can feel a few of you scoffing, so let me clear something up: there is no certain correlation between darkness of roast and caffeine content. Darker roasted coffee doesn’t magically have more caffeine, and most coffee bloggers suggest that roast length and caffeine content are completely unrelated. The science on this is a little shaky, so I’m just leaving it at “no certain correlation” for now. I understand that you need your caffeine, but don’t feel confined to dark French roasts (the “well done” of the coffee world) because of it.
Currently, my favorite coffees are Saving Grace from Ugly Mug in Memphis, TN, and Yirgacheffe from Bold Bean Coffee here in Jacksonville. If there’s interest in some coffee-related posts, comment below to let me know. Otherwise, let’s get to the more pressing matter: coffee cocktails.
As with any cocktail ingredient, we need to carefully consider a coffee’s flavor profile so that we can figure out how to build a drink around it. For this cocktail, I’m using a Starbucks Breakfast Blend made in a Chemex and then chilled overnight in a mason jar. I want to acknowledge a mistake in the companion video: this isn’t cold brew— just chilled coffee. This coffee is light with a slight acidic finish, so we want some sweeter ingredients to balance it. When playing with new ingredients, it’s a good idea to start with a familiar recipe and then branch out from there, and what could be more familiar than the Old Fashioned?

Old Fashioned
2 oz rye or bourbon
3 dashes Angostura bitters
1/2 oz simple syrup
Garnish with lemon or orange peel

Let’s take our classic Old Fashioned recipe, add 2 oz of our chilled coffee, and see what happens. First of all, we need to select our spirits. Because this is a lighter roast, we don’t have as much of a burnt flavor to contend with, so it’s okay if our whiskey is a little smokey. Given the chocolatey overtones of this coffee, I’m thinking a sweeter bourbon with vanilla tones, so Four Roses is a perfect pairing. I’m also going to increase the syrup a bit (3/4 oz of a 1-to-1 turbinado syrup), but we’ll stick to the standard amount of bitters until we have a better idea how these ingredients play together. Ideally, I want to garnish with an orange peel, but all I have on hand right now are lemons, so we’ll have a sourer element in the mix. Having mixed Old Fashioneds with both orange and lemon in the past, I have a pretty good idea how this will play out, but let’s give it a try.
Technique-wise, I’m going to mix this drink in the Boston shaker. Even though the absence of citrus means we can stir the drink for a smoother texture, I want that nice, foamy consistency you’d get with a latte, so shaking is a must. After some vigorous shaking, I’ll strain by breaking the shaker, separating the parts just enough to let the liquid escape without getting stray ice into the drink. The final touch is a lemon twist.

The resulting cocktail is foamy and light with a bright citrus nose and a good earthy flavor that fills the upper palate (like a good cup of coffee should). Given how smokey and full some of the ingredients are, I’m pleasantly surprised by how effervescent this drink is. The Coffee Old Fashioned is a perfect brunch companion and could easily be enjoyed in the same settings as a Mimosa or Bloody Mary. Plus, it’s incredibly easy to make! This won’t be my last coffee cocktail, but it’s a great place to start. With the variety of coffees and bourbons out there, the possibilities on this cocktail are endless, so let me know what you come up with. Happy mixing!