Spanish Coffee is the cocktail invented at Huber’s in Portland, Oregon, where they serve about a thousand a week tableside with a flame the size of your wrist.
Why you are pouring this tonight
Spanish Coffee is the cocktail invented at Huber’s Cafe in Portland, Oregon, where they pour roughly a thousand a week and the bar staff have made flame-and-burn-the-rim into a piece of theatre that has its own choreography. 151-proof rum, coffee liqueur, hot coffee, sugared rim that has been ignited and caramelised. Three minutes of fire. One hour of warmth. Done correctly it is the best after-dinner cocktail in the bar. Done badly it is a fire hazard with whipped cream on top.
The flame is the technique and also the danger. Work in a clear space, away from anything overhead. Use a long match. Have a metal lid handy to smother. Wet the rim of a heat-proof glass with a lemon wedge, dip in caster sugar, pour in the 151, ignite, swirl gently to caramelise the sugar, then add the coffee liqueur to extinguish. Top with hot coffee and a generous spoon of whipped cream, dust with fresh nutmeg. Pair with the end of a long dinner. Replaces dessert. Replaces the second espresso.
What to pour it alongside
End of a heavy dinner. Steak, pasta, anything that wants a digestif and a coffee at once. Replaces dessert.
Notes
Safety: work in a clear space, away from anything overhead, with a fire-safe surface. Never pour from a bottle near a flame. Use a long match. Have a metal lid handy to smother. If you’re nervous, skip the flame, warm the rum first and stir the sugar in directly.
The recipe
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