Espresso martini
Vintage coupe
- 30 ml vodka
- 30 ml coffee liqueur
- 30 ml cold espresso
Shake hard with ice and strain into a coupe. Three coffee beans on top.
Download the recipe cards (PDF)
Pick two or three drinks, not ten
A signature drink makes a backyard feel like an occasion, and nobody has to stand behind a bar all night. Two or three is plenty: one with bubbles, one short and strong, and one without alcohol that does not feel like an afterthought. Choose drinks you can mostly make ahead, and match them to your crowd and your budget. Punch and spritzes stretch a long way. Espresso martinis do not.
Five easy crowd cocktails, and one without alcohol
Aperol spritz
White wine glass
- 60 ml Aperol
- 30 ml soda water
- Top with 90 ml prosecco
Fill the glass with ice, add the Aperol and prosecco, top with a splash of soda. A slice of orange.
Pimm's punch
Highball
- 60 ml Pimm's No. 1
- 180 ml lemonade
One part Pimm’s to three parts lemonade, with cucumber, strawberries, orange and mint. Serve over ice.
French 75
Classic champagne flute
- 30 ml gin
- 15 ml lemon juice
- 10 ml sugar syrup
- Top with 60 ml sparkling wine
Shake the gin, lemon and syrup with ice, strain into a flute and top with sparkling wine.
Bellini
Trumpet flute
- 30 ml white peach purée
- Top with 90 ml prosecco
Peach purée in the bottom of the glass, then slowly top with cold prosecco and stir once.
Ginger, lime and mint fizz
Highball
- 20 ml lime juice
- 15 ml sugar syrup
- Top with 120 ml ginger beer
Lime, syrup and a few mint leaves over ice, topped with ginger beer. A wedge of lime.
Measures are per drink. Please serve responsibly, and have water on the table all night.
Batch it, so nobody shakes drinks all night
Quantities for 20 drinks. Mix the base ahead, keep it cold, and add anything fizzy in the glass so it stays lively.
| Drink | For 20 | How |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso martini Vintage coupe | Vodka: 600 ml Coffee liqueur: 600 ml Cold espresso: 600 ml | Mix the vodka, liqueur and cooled espresso in a bottle and keep it in the fridge. Shake two or three at a time. |
| Aperol spritz White wine glass | Aperol: 1.2 L Soda water: 600 ml Prosecco, to top: 1.8 L (about 2.5 bottles) | Keep the Aperol and soda cold. Build each one in the glass so the prosecco stays fizzy. |
| Pimm's punch Highball | Pimm's No. 1: 1.2 L Lemonade: 3.6 L | Twenty serves fills the drink dispenser, about 4.8 litres. Keep the ice in the glasses, not the dispenser, so it does not water down. |
| French 75 Classic champagne flute | Gin: 600 ml Lemon juice: 300 ml Sugar syrup: 200 ml Sparkling wine, to top: 1.2 L (about 2 bottles) | Mix the gin, lemon and syrup ahead and chill it. Pour 55ml into each flute and top with bubbles. |
| Bellini Trumpet flute | White peach purée: 600 ml Prosecco, to top: 1.8 L (about 2.5 bottles) | Put the purée in the glasses up to an hour ahead and keep them cold. Top with prosecco as people arrive. |
| Ginger, lime and mint fizz Highball | Lime juice: 400 ml Sugar syrup: 300 ml Ginger beer, to top: 2.4 L | Make a jug of lime, syrup and torn mint. Pour 35ml into each glass and top with cold ginger beer. |
Make your menu
Type your event, tick your drinks, pick a colour and print it. It prints at A5, the size of a small frame, and nothing you type leaves this page.
More than four drinks gets crowded. Two or three reads best.
To save it as a PDF instead, choose Save as PDF in the print window.
Setting up the bar
- Ice: more than you think. Allow roughly a kilo per guest if it is also chilling the bottles, and keep a bag in reserve.
- Garnish: cut the fruit and pick the mint before anyone arrives, and keep it in the fridge in containers.
- Glasses: set them out in the same order as the menu, one style to a row, with a crate under the table for empties.
- One job per drink: the spritz and punch are self serve, the espresso martinis are made to order.
A drink without alcohol that does not feel like an afterthought
Put it on the menu with a proper name and serve it in the same good glass as everything else. The ginger, lime and mint fizz looks and tastes like a cocktail, and nobody holding one has to explain themselves.
Need the glasses for it? Every glass here is available to hire for three days, washing included. Work out how many you need or send us your date.