The Café Asiático is an ancestral drink coming from Cartagena, Spain at the beginning of the 20th century. Sailors coming in from Asia would order a coffee with condensed milk and brandy on their arrival. Somewhere during this time, the drink evolved into the modern version of the cocktail.
Licor 43, a Spanish liqueur, now makes up a Café Asiático, along with a touch of cinnamon and lemon zest…
Café Asiático Recipe
Making a Café Asiático is really quite simple. Four ingredients may seem like a lot of elements, especially for a coffee-based cocktail but don’t fear, we’re here to guide you (with five steps)…
Ingredients
10ml Licor 43
20ml Brandy
45ml Espresso coffee
50ml Condensed milk
Method
Step 1 – First, pour in condensed milk into the bottom of the glass.
Step 2 – Next, add the brandy. Cognac is also good to use for this step!
Step 3 – After the brandy, pour the Licor 43 into the glass.
Step 4 – Now, add the espresso coffee to top the drink. Depending on the glass it may be more than 45ml. However, this amount should cover you.
Step 5 – Before serving, garnish the Café Asiático with a dusting of cinnamon, a lemon twist and two coffee beans.
NOTE: The Café Asiático requires a layering technique. This means you’ll have to be careful when pouring out the different elements. Using a bar spoon would be an excellent bar tool to use for this job.
What does a Café Asiático taste like?
What really makes the flavour of this drink is Licor 43, a Spanish liqueur consisting of 43 different ingredients (what’s in a name, right?). Citrus fruits and other fruit juices find their way into the drink, along with vanilla and aromatic herbs and spices. Its sharp, warm and complex taste with the soft vanilla compliments the coffee which has been diffused by the condensed milk.
In the Murcia region of Spain they do a variant of Café Asiático, where the brandy is preheated and lit and served separately in a little metal jug, along with a slice of lemon or orange (again, this depends where you are in Murcia). Once you got your normal Café Asiático dialed in, EBS highly recommends a trip to Murcia!
