In October 2021, New York Magazine’s Grub Street published a piece titled “‘No More Espresso Martinis!’ Why bartenders hate the hottest drink on the planet.” The 10-paragraph article went all in on the beloved cocktail, featuring gripe after gripe from NYC bartenders apparently fed up with the drink’s popularity. One called the drink “annoying,” “obnoxious,” and “trendy.” Another admitted he “[doesn’t] keep the ingredients on the bar specifically so that we can’t make them.”
The piece ended with a familiar prediction: that trendy drinks like the Espresso Martini disappear as quickly as they arrive. And the article did run during what felt like peak Espresso Martinimania. But it was really just the beginning. According to Drinks International’s annual roundup of the world’s 50 most popular cocktails, the Espresso Martini has only gained ground. It ranked sixth in 2021, slipped to No. 7 in 2022, and has since held the No. 4 spot for the three years straight. The industry’s disdain, however, hasn’t subsided.
In a recent Instagram video from drinks influencer The Educated Barfly, bartenders at Bar Convent Brooklyn 2025 were asked to name the most overrated cocktail. Every single one gave the same answer: the Espresso Martini.
Call it the Cosmo of our generation — crowd-pleasing, tasty, relatively easy to make, and a proven moneymaker. So why the hate? Simplicity shouldn’t be a crime. Maybe it’s time the industry cut the Espresso Martini some slack and appreciate it for what it is. Hold your fire and hear me out.
It’s Not Hard to Make
The biggest challenge bartenders highlight tends to come down to one thing: espresso. The original spec calls for a freshly pulled shot, which is a logistical nightmare for most bars. Few have space for an espresso machine, and adding a piping hot shot to a shaker full of ice can lead to dilution issues. But most bars have figured out workarounds that render the “it’s-hard- to- make” complaint moot.
At Gussie’s and The Hippo in Raleigh, N.C., owner Katie O’Kane pre-pulls espresso shots before service and batches them with other ingredients. Come service time, it’s a simple shake-and-serve. “For us with a higher-volume environment, it does exactly what we need it to do,” she says. “It’s a very happy moment every time a guest apologizes for ordering six Espresso Martinis and we are thrilled to make it because we are so proud of ours and the batch makes it easy to execute. It’s the same with our Mojito.”
Many bars skip fresh espresso altogether. At home, Trader Joe’s Cold Brew concentrate does the trick. And while most bars wouldn’t stoop to that, cold brew concentrate is apparently a serviceable alternative.
“It’s become far more the norm these days to use a stronger cold brew concentrate instead (our bar included),” says Scott Kitsmiller, bar manager of Chicago’s Gus’ Sip & Dip. At Gus’, the prep team does a 24-hour cold extraction with freshly ground, locally roasted coffee beans, allowing them to produce a liquid that stands toe-to-toe with espresso in flavor and strength. “The temperature and ease of service is just loads better with [it], speeding up the time it takes to make the drink drastically,” Kitsmiller says.
The common argument against cold brew is that it lacks the froth of fresh espresso. Fair — but not a dealbreaker. “We get around it by shaking all our Espresso Martinis with a single 2-by-2-inch cube of ice to add the desired light and fluffy texture that’s associated with a well-made version of the cocktail,” Kitsmiller says.
“It can be a delicious drink that you can put your own spin on. And if it makes people happy, what’s more to love?”
With some prep and planning, the Espresso Martini is no harder to make than a Margarita, Daiquiri, or Last Word. It’s certainly easier than any egg white drink, especially the notorious, shoulder-popping Ramos Gin Fizz.
That brings us to another common complaint — one that has nothing to do with effort. The curmudgeons call it overrated.
It’s Not ‘Overrated’
Calling a cocktail “overrated” is hard to justify when personal taste is inherently subjective. But the more popular a drink becomes, the more likely it is to fall in the hands of unskilled bartenders, leading to inconsistent quality and the chance of being burned by a poorly made Espresso Martini.
“I think the Espresso Martini is one of those cocktails that can vary in quality so drastically — when they’re good, they’re fantastic. When they’re bad, they are really bad,” Kitsmiller says. “Therefore I think it has become an easy drink for some people to hate.”
Even in a hypothetical world where every Espresso Martini is executed flawlessly, the drink still carries baggage. As the latest iteration in the speedball genre — once defined by low-brow offerings like Four Loko and Vodka Redbulls — some still see it as more about function than flavor.
But unlike those predecessors, the Espresso Martini is a bona fide cocktail, developed by an accomplished bartender: the late Dick Bradsell, who also invented the Bramble.
“To sum up my feelings about that drink: Espresso Martini = happy guest = money in the bank.”
“I don’t think the Espresso Martini is deserving of any more umbrage than the Cosmopolitan is. Neither should be hated,” says Richie Boccato, owner of New York’s Dutch Kills, The Gem, and Hundredweight Big Ice. “Both of those drinks were created by legendary veteran barmen who more than paid their dues, and their enduring legacies should serve as the only testimony that anyone needs to validate the presence of those cocktails in the modern bartender’s repertoire.”
What the Espresso Martini lacks — at least in the eyes of “cool kid” bartenders — is appeal on paper. It’s vodka, sugar, coffee liqueur, and espresso. That’s it. But that simplicity is also its strength.
The spec is also easily adaptable. If you find vodka boring, use an añejo tequila instead. If that’s not your speed, reach for an aged rum.
“To make our house Espresso Martini, we use fresh espresso, a vanilla lactic acid syrup, coffee liqueur, and split base of rum and vodka which gives it some complexity and neutrality that our guests seem to love,” O’Kane says. “It can be a delicious drink that you can put your own spin on. And if it makes people happy, what’s more to love?”
It’s Money in Your Pocket
To answer O’Kane’s question: What’s more to love is that the Espresso Martini is one of the cocktail world’s golden geese. It brings in cash — and lots of it. And with all due respect to the bartender who told Grubstreet in 2021 that he doesn’t even carry the ingredients, there’s nothing stopping guests from going across the street and getting their fix elsewhere.
And really, since when was the service industry about what the operator likes, and not the guest? Burger King hasn’t gone broke from letting customers “have it your way.” Peter Luger’s isn’t turning away steak orders because cooks are bored. And nobody’s forcing bartenders to drink Espresso Martinis — just to serve them.
Take Boccato, for instance, who says he doesn’t drink them, but gladly sells them.
“To sum up my feelings about that drink: Espresso Martini = happy guest = money in the bank,” he says. “If it really hurts your feelings to make someone an Espresso Martini in exchange for money plus tax and gratuity, then prove your chops as a bartender and suggest a more interesting alternative to your guest.”
This Is the Hospitality Industry
Whether or not Espresso Martini mania fades — and eventually it will — it’s worth remembering that this is the hospitality industry. It’s supposed to be about the guest. That means leaving egos at the door and aiming to make people happy. If that means making Espresso Martinis all night, so be it.
“At the end of the day, if the guest is excited about a cocktail, it’s our job to make the best possible version of it we can,” O’Kane says.
It’s also not my job to tell bartenders how to do theirs. But here’s my take: If bartenders let guests enjoy one of the most popular cocktails without judgment, bars will be better — and more profitable — for it.
And trends always move on. The Espresso Martini won’t be the “it” drink forever. It could take a few years. It could take a decade. But when it happens, another drink will take its place as the No. 1 cocktail bartenders love to hate.
“Mark my words, it will be something else in a few years, and we’ll all collectively decide that we love Espresso Martinis again,” Kitsmiller says. “I look forward to the day when I order a Harvey Wallbanger in a sea of other orange-hued glasses and get an eye roll from the bartender. It just means that the world’s still spinning.”
