Cocktail Alchemy Meets Coffee Elixirs
As a mixologist, I’m always thinking about creating new concepts, and because I drink a lot of coffee, I started thinking about how it fits into cocktails. That’s how I began to focus on making after-dinner drinks with coffee, the perfect digestif after a meal. I only use illy because it is balanced yet complex, refined and always high quality. I’ve been creating elixirs through a process I call cold extraction. It involves soaking whole illy beans in a special alcohol base to get the most incredible coffee flavor in what I call illy Essence №5. To craft the most beautiful cocktails you must use the most brilliant ingredients. View my recipes below.
— Albert Trummer, Master Mixologist
S’Zen and Sanatorium
illy Cocktail №5
serves four
INGREDIENTS
· 1 orange
· 12 sour Piedmont cherries (steeped in brandy)
· 4 oz. illy Elixir №5 (see instructions)
· 4 oz. dark rum
· Ice cubes
INSTRUCTIONS
Trummer’s after-dinner coffee cocktail is based on an elixir he created, called illy Elixir №5, which serves as a base to which he adds rum. To make the base elixir, steep 8 oz. of whole illy Medium Roast beans with 4 oz. dark chocolate, at least 80% cacao, and 16 oz. dark rum. After 24 hours, strains the essence and transfer it to a pitcher with a spout. “This cocktail, you can’t make this unless you select the perfect ingredients — that rum, that chocolate and those coffee beans — to make the perfect cocktail. And you get there because each component creates a different facet of the overall experience.” — Albert Trummer
1. Using a paring knife, slice four coin-size slices of orange zest from the orange.
2. Squeeze each slice of zest, skin-side down, over four cocktail glasses to extract citrus oils.
3. Spoon 3 cherries into each glass.
4. Into a mixing glass pour 4 oz. of illy Elixir №5.
5. Add 4 oz. of dark rum.
6. Fill the mixing glass to top with ice cubes, then cover and shake vigorously until well chilled.
7. Remove shaker top and replace with strainer, then pour the frothy cocktail into each of the four glasses and serve.
illy Champagne Cocktail
serves four
INGREDIENTS
· 4 oz. illy Elixir №4 (see instructions)
· 2 oz. Madagascar Vanilla Liqueur (see instructions)
· 2 oz. white rum
· 1 bottle demi-sec Champagne
· Ice cubes
· 12 whole illy coffee beans
INSTRUCTIONS
Trummer’s aperitif coffee cocktail is based on two elixirs that he created, which he combines as the base for this cocktail. To make illy Elixir №4, steep 8 ounces of whole illy Medium Roast beans with 16 ounces of dark rum for 24 hours. Strain into a pitcher with a pouring spout. To make the Madagascar Vanilla Liqueur, steep 8 ounces of Madagascar vanilla beans in 16 ounces of dark rum for a minimum of 24 hours (or, optimally, one month). Strain into a pitcher with a pouring spout. “For great effect, I would double this recipe and stack the glasses in a pyramid on the bar. Then I would saber the Champagne bottle, and then pour it into the top glasses, which overflow into the next row of glasses — it’s a wonderful presentation.” — Albert Trummer
1. In a mixing glass pour 4 oz. illy Elixir №4.
2. Add 2 oz. Madagascar Vanilla Liqueur
3. Add 2 oz. of dark rum.
4. Fill the mixing glass to top with ice cubes, then cover and shake vigorously until well chilled.
5. Remove shaker top and replace with strainer, then pour the frothy cocktail into each of the four glasses and serve.
6. Top with Champagne.
7. Garnish with three whole illy coffee beans in each glass.
