The trick to getting foam on your Espresso Martini at home
How to get the signature frothy/creamy foam on your Espresso Martinis made from the comfort of your own home.
The foam on top of an espresso martini is often a second thought, after all, it’s the taste that matters right? However, it’s really something that separates the pros from the amateurs. It’s so deflating when you get an Espresso Martini with no foam, or even worse, when you get that little bubbly head, you know the one.
What we want is that big thick light and airy pillow on top. A thick white creamy layer that the coffee beans can balance perfectly on, that every time you take a sip you have to wipe away the creamy moustache from atop your upper lip.
Okay, so maybe I got a bit carried away there… But you can’t deny it, the foam is a signature part of an Espresso Martini. Especially when ordering one. If you didn’t have that foam, you would automatically think it was a badly made Espresso Martini, regardless of if you’d had a taste or not. Aesthetics are very important for flavour.
If something looks bad, we’re going to think it tastes bad, and when we’re talking about Espresso Martinis. The foam really is the key to making it look good.
What is the foam on Espresso Martinis
So what even is that foam on Espresso Martinis? What makes it creamy? Well, the basics are that when you shake, air gets trapped in the liquid and emulsifies the cocktail. So when you strain it, the air pushes out of the liquid creating small dense bubbles, AKA, froth. That right there, that’s your foam.
Certain things help this more or less. Margaritas are shaken but don’t have much foam, whilst Whisky sours are shaken and have lots of foam. The difference is with the ingredients. Margaritas are made up of Cointreau, Tequila and lime juice. All the foam you get is from whatever air can emulsify in those ingredients, which isn't much.
In the case of whisky sours, you have an added ingredient - Egg white.
When you shake with egg white, the proteins in the egg break up and intensify that ‘emulsification’. Basically, some ingredients froth up better than others.
With Espresso Martinis, that creamy texture is down to the coffee. Oils in the coffee and C02 trapped from extracting coffee all help that emulsification. What I’m saying is that its the shaking of Espresso Martinis that creates that foam, but if you use bad coffee, no matter how much you shake you simply won't be able to achieve a thick creamy foam. This is why bars always have that signature foam whilst home bartenders rarely achieve it. It’s not necessarily about technique, it's the simple fact that cocktail bars usually have access to freshly brewed coffee whilst people at home usually use instant or cold brew coffee.
Bullet pointed, the foam on espresso martinis is…
Vigorously shaking to trap air
Fresh espresso
Why is the foam on Espresso Martinis necessary
So why is this necessary? Well, firstly, as mentioned, it's all about aesthetics, we have 5 senses, all of which help us decide whether something tastes good or bad. The first of those senses used in cocktails is sight. What we see builds an opinion on flavour. If it doesn't look good, it won't taste good, and at the end of the day, this is 2022, if we aren't sharing photos of our espresso martinis on Instagram then what's the point right? And nothing is less appetizing than a flat looking Espresso Martini.
That being said, just because its mainly aesthetics doesn’t mean its all aesthetics. That foam is a sign of texture. Espresso Martinis are suppose to be light and airy with a creamy texture. That foam means that the liquid has that texture. Without the foam, the mouthfeel of your beloved espresso martini is probably going to be more heavy and dense. Which works for some cocktails, not so much Espresso Martinis.
Espresso Martini Recipe
Before I go on about how achieve the perfect foamy espresso martini at home, you should probably first know how to make one. So get the pro espresso martini recipe here then swing back so I can tell you how to achieve that foam.
After you check out the classic Espresso Martini recipe, you can also check out some of my below Espresso Martini variations below.
Caramel and Hazelnut Espresso Martini
A combination of caramel syrup, homemade hazelnut coffee liqueur and homemade caramel spikes.
Cereal Milk Espresso Martini
An interesting take on the classic using cornflake infused coffee and cereal milk.
How to achieve a frothy foam on top your Espresso Martini at home
The question remains, can you achieve that foam at home? Why do pro bartenders achieve this when you have the exact same recipe, but cant get the froth? Well, the answer is yes. You can, all the photos I did for this post, which i’m sure you can agree look pretty damn foamy? were all done at home. It’s absolutely possible and the good news is you only have to keep 4 key points in mind, 4 tricks if you will. These are those 4 tricks to achieving the perfect foam on espresso martinis at home.
Fresh Coffee beans
Starting with the most important tip we have the use of coffee. All these tips are helpful but the one essential is quality of coffee. Certain aspects of coffee help achieve that creaminess. One is oils in the coffee, the other is C02. Have you ever noticed when you buy americanos or espresso from a café they have that foam on top known as crema? That's because coffee beans have small amounts of C02 in them, when you grind and espresso those beans from fresh, that c02 escapes leaving behind foam, coupled with oils being released. So this is massively effective in creating frothy espresso martinis.
The key to getting that is by expressing espresso at home from fresh. You can do this fairly cheaply with a good bean to cup espresso machine. I use Krups which are great for daily coffee use (which if you like espresso martinis i'm sure you will enjoy) and espresso martinis.
A great buy for if you’re in the UK is the De'Longhi Magnifica or the more expensive but barista favourite, the Sage Barista Express Espresso Machine. For all your USA dwellers, check out the Philips 3200 Series or the Breville Barista Express Espresso Machine.
What about POD coffee machines?
Pod coffee machines are a popular choice, but will the coffee be good enough for Espresso Martinis? If you get the right one, yes! For UK check out the TASSIMO Bosch My Way or the Nespresso Vertuo Plus. USA can still get Nespresso Vertuo Plus aswell as the Nespresso Essenza Mini which would work great.
Hard shake, double shake, dry shake and hippy hippy shake
Shake, and shake well. The aim is to force air into the liquid, this is helped with a good cocktail shaker. Not your average small leaky top cocktail shaker. Pick up a Rusty Barrel Mayfair Cocktail Gift Set or a Matte Black Pro Boston Cocktail Shaker from amazon UK. Likewise if you're American check out the Rust Barrel set or innovating elevated craft shaker on amazon USA. They are going to help you massively.
When you shake, don’t just shake back and forth, think of your shaking more like a washing machine, you want the liquid to be moving in a circle motion, so go round and round as opposed to back and forth.
Ice ice baby
Load your cocktail with plenty of ice. Lots and lots of ice. This is why a bigger shaker like this is going to help you. The ice works on 2 levels. Firstly, as it breaks up when you’re shaking, it's going to help smash around the liquid, helping to emulsify even more. Secondly, it's going to make your espresso martini freezing cold. Much like how a cold beer holds a nice head and a warm beer looks flat, an ice cold espresso martini will have a denser and longer holding foam. So don’t skimp on the ice.
Fine strain
Finally, it's all about the strain. Straining your cocktail helps keep a clean finish, no bits of broken ice in your espresso martini and helps separate and diversify the layers of liquid and foam. If you're using a cobbler shaker like this which is great for shaking, I recommend not using the built in strainer, instead pick up a cheap fine strainer and hawkthorne, use the both to strain.
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Hi, I’m Cameron, guv’nor of Smartblend. If you’ve enjoyed this cocktail technique, check out some more cool techniques below.
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