Why You Should Absolutely Make Your Next Espresso Martini With Turkish Coffee

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The espresso martini has become oh-so popular these days, whether it's the classic version that includes vodka, coffee liqueur, and espresso coffee, or the myriad variations like the one with Guinness. Whatever style you prefer, there are a variety of ways to upgrade your espresso martini, like using a craft coffee liqueur or by adding chocolate bitters. But if you want to try perhaps the ultimate version of this drink, switch out Italian espresso for Turkish coffee and open up a new world of flavor and texture in your next cocktail.

Turkish coffee is a unique method of producing coffee that's thick, full-bodied, and stronger than conventional filter coffee, and can be on par or even stronger than espresso. The Arabica beans are ground to a powder, boiled in a traditional copper pot called a cezve. Ground cardamom and sugar are also sometimes added. What this means for your espresso martini is a drink with a rich coffee flavor and velvety texture, with the cardamom adding a one-of-a-kind flavor profile that's earthy, citrusy, sweetly herbaceous, and slightly floral. And making this version isn't really all that much harder than crafting the standard version.

Although crafting a Turkish coffee espresso martini involves a simple coffee swap, making Turkish coffee is a bit more difficult than making espresso. To start, you'll need Turkish coffee — which, because of its super-fine texture, is hard to grind at home, although you can achieve the right texture with a hand grinder or mortar and pestle. You can buy already ground Turkish coffee, such as Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Turkish Coffee on Amazon and elsewhere.

Next, you'll need to boil the coffee. If you can't get your hands on a cezve, you can use a small sauce pan. For more details, see our guide on the various methods of preparing Turkish coffee at home. Once the coffee is cooled, you'll need to strain out the grounds when you add it to your shaker with vodka, coffee liqueur, and a pinch of cardamom. Give it a few vigorous shakes and voila. If you don't want to go through the process of making your own Turkish coffee, you can simply add a pinch of ground cardamon to a regular espresso martini, which will mimic some of the traditional flavors. But we promise that using authentic Turkish coffee for this cocktail is worth the bit of extra work.