I Made a Caffe Shakerato Yesterday. It’s gonna be my new, go to afternoon/weekend coffee treat.

What’s good r/Coffee!

I have been spending a lot of time this past year/year and a half experimenting with cocktails. This past week my partner has been on call with work, being responsible and staying off the booze. So it got me thinking, “What kinda fun drinks can I make with coffee?! Especially using some of my cocktail gear.” I don’t have a full espresso setup so steamed milk drinks were off the table.

Well, it didn’t take long for the Caffe/Espresso Shakerato to pop into my brain. I’ve seen stuff about it before but never had a shaker on hand or any cool glassware to serve it in. I love drinking cocktails with egg white, so the bubbly/frothy result you get from these drinks was really intriguing to me.

Well, yesterday was the day. It was 1pm-ish and I was looking for a quick afternoon treat so figured it was perfect timing. I looked at a few recipes and the first one that showed up was THIS ONE from Serious Eats. Might not be the most traditional place for coffee culture but I use a ton of their recipes

Their recipe was:

• 4 ounces ice cubes (about 4 to 6 cubes)
• 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon; 15g) sugar
• 2 fluid ounces (60ml) freshly made hot espresso

1. Add ice and sugar to a cocktail shaker. Pour hot espresso on top, seal shaker, and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled, 10 to 20 seconds.

2. Strain iced espresso into a cocktail glass, coupe, or other glass vessel and serve right away.

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How I make the "Espresso"

I can’t make espresso at home (not much counter space in my 1 bedroom) but I do have a Fellow Prismo that helps me get CLOSE to espresso.

My recipe is as follows:

• 18g finely ground coffee (not espresso grind but close. Like you would for a Moka Pot)
• 85g water straight off the boil
• Add Prismo to bottom of the aeropress and add in coffee. Pour water, straight off the boil to 85g. Stir or swirl to incorporate
• Steep for ~45 sec to 1 min. Plunge into cup.

Issue with Sugar

If you're adding sugar to the recipe, I feel like syrups are always better. Obviously the espresso is hot and will likely dissolve based on how hard I shook this drink. But I'd rather not take that risk.

I also ALWAYS have various syrups on hand at home and yesterdays was a Rich (2:1) Demerara Syrup in the amount of 0.5oz. I like the extra molasses-y flavours that the Demerara brings out.

My Experiments

I made one run of the Shakerato and it was passable. I used a bit of an older coffee in my current collection and feel like that may have been part of the problem.

But then I used a coffee I felt would fit a little better for the drink. It was an anaerobic washed Bolivian, seen HERE. I also expressed some lemon zest/peel over the top (like you do with a lot of cocktails). HERE is the end result.

The Lemon was a Game Changer

I CANNOT TELL YOU ENOUGH how much the lemon improved this drink. The bright/citrusy aroma you get from the lemon just adds a whole other dimension to this drink. When I first had heard of lemon and coffee pairing I only scoffed at it, as it sounded ridiculous. But, let me tell you, adding the lemon to this drink makes it so, so, SO much better. You get the aroma of the lemon up front, the molasses-y sweetness from the Demerara up front and the more roasty/chocolatey notes from the coffee on the back end, along with the more fermented notes from this anaerobic coffee.

My Recipe

The recipe I am currently sitting on (which may be change in the future) is as follows:

• 4 ounces ice cubes (about 4 to 6 cubes)
• 1/2 ounce – Rich Demerara syrup (feel free to drop to ¼oz or remove if you want it less sweet) (note 1, note 2)
• 2 fluid ounces (60ml) freshly made hot espresso or aeropress coffee brewed as above
• 1 strip of lemon zest (for expressing on drink)

1. Add ice and syrup to a cocktail shaker. Pour hot espresso/aeropress coffee on top, seal shaker, and shake vigorously until thoroughly chilled, 10 to 20 seconds (kinda depending on your preferred level of froth/foam up top).

2. Double strain into a cocktail glass (ie. coupe, Nick and Nora) or other glass vessel. I like to double straing

3. Express and garnish with a zest/peel of lemon.

4. Enjoy right away!

Note 1 – I started with the 1/2oz of rich syrup as I feel it got closer to the original recipe I looked at, in terms of sweetness. However, my partner said it was a little bit sweet for her tastes. I do find my recipe to be somewhat dessert-y. You can reduce the sugar to suit your sweetness tastes. It’s mainly the surfactants in the coffee that create the foam. However, it is in my own experience that some sugar does help keep the structure of the foam a little more. But your mileage may vary!

Note 2 – If you're feeling spicy, feel free to add to or sub your sugar for your favourite liquer (ie. Sambuca, Amaretto, Mr. Black Coffee Liquer even) or amaro (I like Averna, Montenegro or Braulio). It’s really up to you and your taste / sweetness / bitterness preferences!

I’d love to know if any of you have better/different/other options for this kind of a drink. If you do, I’d love to hear about your recipe and methods!