Classic Cocktails – Café Asiático

In our line of classic cocktails, Café Asiático is a good follow-up to our Gin and Tonic. Café Asiático is more of an ancestral drink coming from Cartagena in the beginning of the 20th century. Sailors coming in from Asia would order a coffee with condensed milk and brandy on their arrival, and somewhere in time the drink evolved into it’s current state, where Licor 43, cinnamon and lemon zest are added as well:

Step 1. Pour in condensed milk covering the vertical lines at the bottom of the glass.
Step 2. Add brandy up to the dotted line of the glass.
Step 3. Add “Licor 43″ up to the top of the oval lines.
Step 4. Add coffee to the top of the glass (approx. one espresso coffee).
Step 5. Add some cinnamon, a lemon slice and two coffee beans.

…Deliciousness ensues!

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 and other fruit juices find their way in, along with vanilla and aromatic herbs and spices. Its sharp, warm and complex taste with vanilla up front 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, served separately in a little metal jug, along with a slice of lemon or orange in it (again, this depends where you are in Murcia). Once you got your normal Café Asiático dialed in, EBS highly recommends a trip to Murcia!