Jallu-Plörö

JALLU-PLÖRÖ

Part of the Finnish UNESCO World Heritage list 

Jallu-Plörö. It's more than just a name. It's a legacy. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage list and a truly Finnish cultural act! Coffee spiked with Jaloviina*. Here is how you can make your own delicacy:

• 4 cl Jaloviina*
• Coffee
• milk (separately)
• (cigarette)

Add the Jaloviina* to your coffee and go outside with your cup & smoke a cigarette (if you are a smoker). Enjoy.

Jallu-Plörö to Finns is what feng shui is to the Japanese. Cherish it.

Fazerina

FAZERINA

Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker!

Hey! Here's another great example how different flavors work magic with coffee and resemble, in this case, a truly iconic Finnish candy. The Fazerina. Based on the chocolate that carries the same name, the Fazerina has a orangy-chocolat-y taste to it and when you combine it with coffee and & cream? Nice.

• 2 cl cointreau
• 2 cl creme de cacao (white)
• coffee
• loosely whipped cream
• (garnish)

To a well pre-heated glass, add the liqueurs and coffee, stir gently and carefully layer the whipped cream on top. Garnish if liked. Serve.

I actually went so far that I used both the white and dark creme de cacao's to see if there's a real difference or not. Given one does not make marginal errors with measuring...let's put it diplomatically this way; with the white liqueur the cointreau shines a bit more (in a positive way) :D

That said, the Fazerina is an excellent coffee-based drink!

Flaming Sambuca

FLAMING SAMBUCA

FEUER FREI!

Evening everyone! Since my wife & kid has been away the whole week and I've had a morning shift every day of the week (until 18:00)...man the amount of drinks I've had in the past few days :D

But enough of that. Still have one week of work, then it is my Xmas holiday! Wo-hoo! So tonight's speciality is a Flaming Sambuca. One of those shots you've heard about but never actually had one.

Here's how to make one:

• 4 cl sambuca
• three coffee beans
• a snifter
• a tumbler
• (a napkin, through which a straw is pierced)

Put the sambuca and coffee beans in the snifter, add the sambuca and place the snifter as in the picture above. With fire light the drink up (remember work safety!!) and roll the glass a little while, let the fires burn like a thousand suns. You might ask "why three coffee beans?" Well, the traditional serving is with three coffee beans, each representing health, happiness and prosperity (I wiki'ed it, boom!)

After it has been burning for a while, smother the flames by pouring the drink in the tumbler and covering it with the snifter. Now at this point you could do one of the following:

1. Drink the now-warm sambuca
2. Quickly put the snifter on top of the straw (as it has gathered sambuca fumes), shoot the liqueur and inhale the fumes through the straw

Honestly speaking. I recommend the first one. Don't ruin this drink by trying to be "awesome" and inhaling alcohol fumes. No. Don't do it.

The shot itself was quite pleasant and warm (duh) :D But yeah, leave the fumes and just ignore them!

Momentum

MOMENTUM

Hey everyone and a pleasant Sunday to y'all! It's been a rough weekend at work (Xmas season) so why not spend one's free day enjoying a good cocktail?

Fair enough, I made this a few days back but nonetheless, the Momentum is a surprisingly tasty concoction. This drink is part of the "Let's make a drink from a magazine" - series i.e. the national cocktail-magazine Shaker (in Finnish). Just like the earlier shot I made, this one includes cognac in it. Let's take a look:

• 3 cl cognac (VSOP)
• 1 cl sambuca
• espresso/coffee beans (about 1 tsp or ~10)
• lemon twist garnish

Stir the ingredients except for the lemon garnish in a snifter with ice and garnish. Serve. With a very lemony and pleasant aroma to it, this cocktail has a pleasant balance to it! A liquorice-cognac taste with one drawback; the coffee beans are constantly getting in the way :D

After my glass had sit for a while, you get those coffee-flavors to it (coffee beans). In total, a 3-/5. It's quite a short drink, so use a smaller snifter if able.

Pariisin Varpunen / Nikolaschka / La Môme Piaf

Pariisin Varpunen / Nikolaschka / 

La Môme Piaf

Hi everyone! Today I made a shot called Pariisin Varpunen (La môme Piaf / Little Sparrow) / Nikolaschka. Depending on the main ingredient used. The recipe I got from a Finnish cocktail-magazine in which many different cognac based cocktails/drinks were represented. I shall be doing more of them later in the coming weeks.

If you want to try something really extraordinary, give this one a try. It is definitely different :D

• 4 cl cognac (for a Vodka Nikolaschka use vodka instead)
• a thick slice of orange/lemon
• ~1 tsp instant coffee powder
• ~1 tsp fine caster sugar

Put the alcohol in a snifter/small tumbler. Layer the citrus slice on top with the coffee and sugar side by side. Now at this point you can still make a choice:

1. Drink the liquor and bite on the citrus
2. Bite on the citrus and then drink the liquor

I opted for the 2nd one. Also, I prefered the cognac-based shooter way better. Or then the vodka needs to be properly chilled, which in this case wasn't. Nonetheless, in case you really want to surprise your guests with an after-dinner "cocktail", try this one! :D

New York Coffee

NEW YORK COFFEE

Hey! Here's a nice touch on mixed coffee drinks! Many have had an Irish Coffee before, sure but if that sounds boring, why not try a New York Coffee? A liquorice twist with excellent taste that'll sweep your feet right away :D

• 2 cl kahlúa
• 2 cl sambuca
• hot coffee
• loosely whipped cream
• grated nutmeg to garnish

Preheat the glass. Pour excess hot water away, add in the alcohols followed with the coffee. Stir gently and layer the cream on top. Garnish and serve.

Easy and delicious! In addition, if you still want to pimp this one up, before layering the cream, add a few pinches salt in the drink and stir. Then you have a Silvertaffee Coffee, based on the Finnish "Hopeatoffee" - candy since they taste the same :)

Cafe Nero

CAFE NERO

Hot Stuff!

Hey everyone! Here's a coffee-based cocktail a customer (while back) ordered from me! At that point, I had no idea what the hell it was so the kind (wo)man showed me how to make one! In hindsight, I would make this drink into a much smaller champagne flute/glass so the proportional amount of Galliano would be much higher. Nonetheless, here's how to make a Cafe Nero.

• 4 cl Galliano (vanilla)
• sugar + citrus wedge (for coating the inner glass)
• coffee
• loosely whipped cream
• vanilla / nutmeg / essential oils from an orange as garnish
• some fire (remember safety!)

First things first, prewarm the glass. Dump the hot water and with the help of the citrus wedge, coat the inside rim of the glass. Pour some sugar on it to create a nice sugary rim.  Add in the galliano and set it on fire. Let the flames caramelize the sugar a bit, after which pour in the coffee. Layer some cream on top and garnish.

As I mentioned in the beginning, since I used a much higher volume glass to make this one, taste-wise it had gentle vanilla notes to it and I liked its smoothness. Moreover, this drink can easily be twisted by using another alcohol and garnish appropriately. 

(Galliano) Hot Shot

(GALLIANO) HOT SHOT

Hey!

Here's a shot, that has become notorious in the Finnish bar culture. I'm not quite sure how often these are ordered abroad, but in Finland there's a somewhat love-hate relationship with the Hot Shot.

The (Galliano) Hot Shot is a layered shot and has become famous for one reason: Many of these are typically ordered in the same time and we all know how layering a bunch of these is the most absolute fun :D

• 2 cl Galliano (vanilla)
• a small amount of coffee
• a small amount of cream

Put the galliano in the shot glass and carefully layer (with the help of a spoon) the coffee first and then the cream on top. Some like to sip it, some shoot it. Either way, it's a very vanilla-creamy shot and easily drunk. As...no-one doubted, right? Right? 

Espresso Martini

ESPRESSO MARTINI

Energy boost in a glass

Hello again everyone. Let me introduce you to something quite modern but still wonderful, the Espresso Martini.

It'll sweep your socks right off your feet, even if you don't have any! I was lucky enough to get some espresso from work...and the rest is history!

• 5 cl vodka
• 2.5 cl Kahlúa
• 2.5 cl espresso
• (.5 cl sugar syrup, to taste)

Shake the ingredients with ice, strain and serve.

Highly coffee-flavored, both in the nose and flavor, this cocktail is potent. As vodka is pretty much "tasteless", it only enhances the profile of both Kahlùa and espresso, making the Espresso Martini one helluva coffee cocktail! Smooth in taste, I'm glad I made this!

Monte Cristo Coffee

MONTE CRISTO COFFEE

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.”

- Dr. Seuss

Hello again dear readers!

My thoughts of coffee cocktails has been brewing (tee-hee) for a long time now. I've read about them a lot as well as any alcoholic beverage that is enjoyed warm/hot. The promo pictures are so delicious looking I've always wanted to make one myself (here's a good example of one). The only problem I've found with these kind of drinks is that 90% of the time they look exactly the same; it's black/brown and a float of loosely whipped cream on top. Maybe some chocolate sprinkles or powdered cocoa on top. So making a dozen of different flavored coffee cocktails wouldn't make sense per se; I'd have a dozen similar looking pictures. 

So the only thing where I can make an actual difference is

1. Choose a different kind of glass
2. Choose "unorthodox" garnishes (that still apply for the drink overall)

At work we make various warm cocktails. During the holiday season we sell plenty of glögi, both with and without alcohol. Irish coffees and peppermint hot chocolates and all of those are ordered on a rather regular basis as well. Figures since it's cold outside and people like to drink warm drinks (coffee) in Finland, so why not combine both?

Anyhow, one of the more known coffee cocktails is the Monte Cristo coffee. I actually saw a colleague of mine do this in a wine goblet and it really hit me; "Why not?" Having had a rough weekend at work (long hours in consecutive days) I really wanted to do this and see how it goes down as a coffee drink:

• 2.5 cl Kahluá (coffee liqueur)
• 2.5 cl Cointreau (triple sec)
• hot coffee
• loosely whipped cream

First warm up the glass. Pour in the liquors, add the coffee and finally with the help of a spoon gently pour the loosely whipped cream on top to create a float. Serve.

In our bar we use 2:2cl respectively (regulations) and some recipes in the wonderland we call internet call for 3 cl kahluá/1.5 cl cointreau (gran marnier) for a more coffee-tasting experience. Given, that would've probably worked a tad better; although this cocktail tasted great, the orange flavors did overwhelm the coffee aromas a little bit.

Either way, I've really warmed up (tee-hee) for these kind of drinks! Coffee cocktails, I salute you!

Irish Coffee

IRISH COFFEE

2011

2013

2015

Here it is, the famous Irish Coffee. I admit right away, I did this cocktail wrong; I did whip the cream a bit, according to the original recipe heavy cream is indeed used, but it is not whipped per se. Plus I didn't have the Irish Coffee glass either...(editor's note; now I do!:D) Yeah and the chocolate flakes were extra, but I think it gave the drink a nice touch. Well now that we're at it, adaptability with even cocktails is okay, right? Right? :)

Not being the biggest coffee (in cocktails) kind of guy, I gave this all time classic a go and managed to pull a decent cocktail. Ingredients as follows:

• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
• 4cl Irish whiskey
• 8cl hot coffee
• fresh cream

Add the brown sugar in the bottom of the glass (remember to heat up the glass before!), add the whiskey + coffee and stir. Float the cream on top of the drink with the help of a spoon. Serve immediately.

Personally, as mentioned before I can't say this is a truly amazing cocktail. Lies all lies! During the past year or so I've come to appreciate this cocktail so much more!

But I could now do understand its effect on a cold winter's night with good friends with good music in the background. That said, the next time I would make this...definitely for friends.