ALL ABOUT ICE A NOTE ON SWEETNESS tip FOAM HACK

Ice goes in last, seconds before you shake it. Use standard ice cubes – about five or six should be perfect.

Sugar gives the drink body and enhances flavour, but to make it drier, you can use tsp sugar syrup and pinch some lemon peel over the drink before serving (then discard it – dropping it in will overpower the flavours).

Shaking the cocktail hard for a long time to get that foam is key here. A larger shaker makes this easier, but if that isn’t available, you can use a blender. After shaking, strain the cocktail into the blender, pulse two or three times, then pour into your glass. If you don’t have a shaker and your blender is suitable for crushing ice, pour all the ingredients into the blender, pulse three times with the ice, strain to remove the ice, then return to the blender and pulse two or three times before serving.

For the co ee vodka

10g co ee beans, plus 3 extra

beans to garnish

40ml vodka

1 First, make the co ee vodka. Put the co ee beans in a small glass or jug, then top up with the vodka. Cover and leave to steep at room temperature overnight. The next day, strain into a jug, discarding the co ee beans.

2 Pour 30ml of the co ee vodka into a large cocktail shaker (keep the rest), ideally a Boston-style one. Add the sherry, syrup and espresso. 3 Add the ice, then immediately put the shaker together and shake very hard and fast until the outside of the shaker feels very cold. Open to check the drink – it should be really foamy. If not, continue shaking and check again (see tip, left).

4 Double-strain the cocktail

(do this by pouring it through a hawthorne strainer or the built-in strainer, and through a fine sieve) into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with the extra co ee beans to serve, if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW vegan • gluten free

PER SERVING 107 kcals • fat none • saturates none • carbs 5g • sugars 0.2g • ibre none • protein 0.1g • salt 0.02g