![]() ![]() The Armagnac is warmed lightly by the cup, releasing its aromatics. In southern Gascony, the home of Armagnac, it is not uncommon to take a cup recently unburdened of its delicious coffee and add a touch of brandy. A restrained quarter ounce of Calvados is added to un café to aid digestion. ![]() In France, there is the Café Calva, which is often served after a long meal. This duo is often served unapologetically on the rocks, layered in a style similar to a Pousse Café (even this is a French invention of layered liqueurs served after-dinner and meaning “coffee pusher”-another example of the ever-present interplay between coffee and spirits!) The Mexican adaptation of the carajillo is a specific combination of espresso and Licor 43, a vanilla-forward, Spanish liqueur. Troops were given rum in their coffee for courage, of which the Spanish translation is coraje. In Spain, this practice is embodied by the drink known as a Carajillo, argued by some to originate with the Spanish occupation of Cuba. The destination for either is usually one and the same. Although younger generations of Italians don’t utilize this technique as much as their grandparents may have, to walk into a bar in Italy is to be welcomed by the enticing aroma of a freshly pulled espresso and a tantalizing back bar of amari and other assorted spirits. The Fascist era of the 1930’s resulted in a lack of quality coffee, and underwhelming brews benefited from the addition of spirits such as Grappa or Anisette-the distillate of choice varied depending on region. ![]() In Italy, this marriage is known as the Caffè Corretto, or corrected coffee. Here we’re adding some Caffo Amaretto (read: liquid marzipan) - corrected coffee is right! Bit by bit, coffee began to replace beer and wine as the breakfast beverage of choice (and substituting the more tranquilizing qualities of alcohol with a stimulant must have made people feel like they had super-powers), but by the 19 th century, alcohol in the form of distillates snuck back into people’s coffee cups for a variety of reasons. In Europe, alcohol and coffee have jockeyed for position in daily routine since coffee came on the scene in the 17 th century. And why not? The two beverages have been in cahoots for decades. For as long as the human race has been ingenious enough to make beverages out of unlikely plants and strange-smelling ferments, coffee and alcohol have stood as the twin potable pillars of cultured society.Īlthough coffee lives at the center of many a morning ritual, and spirits tend to dwell in the happy hours of our hearts, it is the power of these two elements combined that continue to capture the imaginations of consumers and hospitality professionals alike. ![]()
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