For every masked man who has ever emotionally wrecked me in a book.
You know the type. He walks into the masquerade, says about four words, and suddenly I am rereading the same paragraph six times and forgetting my own name. This drink is for him. Or more accurately, it is for me, surviving him.
The Masked Man is an easy espresso martini with a dark romance twist. Deep espresso brown, silky, cold, with a thick pale crema on top and a black sugar rim that looks like it is hiding something. A curl of blood orange goes over the top because a little citrus edge is exactly the kind of small betrayal this trope trades in.
It is smooth enough to drink far too quickly and dramatic enough to photograph before you do. Basically the beverage version of a man in a mask telling you to be a good girl and go to bed. (You will not. You have one more chapter.)
I have included a full mocktail version too, because the black sugar rim and the blood orange hit the same aesthetic whether or not there is vodka in the glass.
A gentle note: masked-men books tend to live on the darker, spicier shelf. If that is your comfort zone, wonderful, pour two. If it is not, this drink is still delicious over your softer small-town read. No judgement here, only caffeine and questionable taste in fictional men.
What you will need
Makes 1 drink (scale up easily for book club).
Masked Man espresso martini
- 30ml vodka
- 30ml coffee liqueur (Kahlua or similar)
- 30ml fresh espresso (1 shot), hot and freshly pulled, then cooled slightly
- 10ml blood orange juice (or regular orange if blood orange is out of season)
- 5ml vanilla syrup (optional, for a rounder, less bitter finish)
- Ice
- Black sugar, for the rim (see Cosy Kitchen Notes for how to make it)
- 3 coffee beans, to garnish (tradition, and they smell incredible)
- A curl of blood orange peel, to finish
Masked Man espresso mocktail
- 60ml strong cold espresso or cold brew concentrate
- 15ml coffee syrup (or 1 tsp brown sugar dissolved in the hot espresso before cooling)
- 10ml blood orange juice
- 5ml vanilla syrup
- 30ml soda water, to lengthen
- Ice
- Black sugar rim
- 3 coffee beans and a blood orange curl, to garnish
Method
Step 1: Make the black sugar rim
Tip 2 tablespoons of caster sugar onto a small plate and stir through a very small pinch of black food colouring gel or a little activated charcoal powder until the sugar turns deep grey-black. Rub a wedge of orange around the rim of your glass to dampen it, then press and twist the rim into the black sugar to coat. Set the glass aside.
A coupe or a martini glass is the move here. Chill it in the freezer for ten minutes first if you can.
Step 2: Pull and cool the espresso
Pull a fresh shot of espresso. A freshly pulled shot is what gives an espresso martini that thick, pale foam on top, so do not skip it for instant if you can help it. Let it cool for a couple of minutes so it does not melt all your ice at once.
Step 3: Shake it like he ghosted you
For the cocktail: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka, coffee liqueur, cooled espresso, blood orange juice and vanilla syrup. Shake hard for a full 20 seconds. Longer than feels necessary. This is what whips air into the drink and builds that signature crema, so do not go gently.
For the mocktail: Add the cold espresso, coffee syrup, blood orange juice and vanilla syrup to a shaker with ice. Shake hard for 20 seconds.
Step 4: Strain and unmask
Double strain into your chilled, black-rimmed glass so no ice shards make it through, only smooth dark liquid and pale foam.
For the mocktail: top with the soda water after straining and stir once, very gently, to keep some fizz.
Step 5: Garnish
Float 3 coffee beans in the centre of the foam. Express the blood orange peel over the top by giving it a firm twist to release the oils, then drop it in or drape it over the rim. Serve immediately, while the foam is still showing off.
Cosy Kitchen Notes
Freshly pulled espresso is the whole trick. The pale foam on top of an espresso martini comes from shaking hot, fresh espresso hard with ice. Instant coffee or long-cold espresso will still taste fine, but you lose that gorgeous crema that makes the drink look like it cost eighteen dollars. If you have a machine or a stovetop pot, use it.
Shake harder and longer than you think. Twenty full seconds. The difference between a flat espresso martini and a silky, foam-topped one is almost entirely in the shake. Treat it like emotional damage: commit fully.
Black sugar without the food dye. If you would rather skip the colouring, a rim of raw demerara or dark muscovado sugar gives a moody amber-brown edge that still reads dark and looks beautiful against the crema. Activated charcoal powder is the truest black if you want the full masked look.
Blood orange is seasonal. If you cannot get blood orange, regular orange works perfectly and the drink is still gorgeous. A tiny splash of orange bitters instead of juice is a lovely grown-up alternative if you have it in the cupboard.
Make it for book club. Pre-batch the base (vodka, coffee liqueur, espresso, blood orange, vanilla) in a jug and keep it in the fridge. When people arrive, pour a portion into the shaker with ice, shake to order, and strain. Shaking each drink fresh is what keeps the foam, so do not batch-and-pour straight from the jug or you lose the drama.
Sober-curious swap. For the mocktail, a splash of a non-alcoholic coffee liqueur (there are several good ones now) in place of the coffee syrup adds real depth if you want the espresso-martini flavour without the alcohol.
The Last Sip
The Masked Man espresso martini is dark, smooth, a little bit dangerous and takes about four minutes to make once your espresso is pulled. It looks like effort, tastes like a very good decision, and photographs like it is keeping a secret.
Pair it with whatever masked-man book is currently ruining your sleep schedule, or line it up beside the Blueberry Blackout Cocktail for a full dark romance reading-night spread. Two dark drinks, one candle, zero self-control.
Pour one. Mask optional. Bad decisions encouraged.
Be a good girl and go to bed, she said, reaching for one more chapter.
