The Most Trendy Cocktail Made 4 Ways: The Carajillo!

Hi, Friends of Cocktails! There is a cocktail that has been blowing up online, and it could even end up as the cocktail of 2026. It’s called the Carajillo, and many popular cocktail creators have covered it. Leandro from The Educated Barfly made it with cognac and rye, The High Proof Preacher made it with Tequila, and Steve the Bartender found the original recipe… so I thought I’d add a few versions to the list!

I’ll make 4 variations of the Carajillo, including one without its key ingredient. This is not to ‘fix’ it,  but to break it down, so you won’t just know the flavors, but understand why they work. But first let’s learn a little bit about the history of the Carajillo. At its core, this is an incredibly simple drink made up of two ingredients, and it’s been around way longer than social media trends.

One origin story takes us to 19th-century Spain, where workers combined their two morning drinks, coffee and alcohol, because they were in a rush. Another places it in Cuba, where soldiers or plantation workers mixed rum and coffee for a bit of courage, or “coraje”. You could think of it as the Spanish cousin of Irish Coffee, or what Italians call “caffè corretto”.

The original Carajillo was made with brandy or rum, just like Leandro made it, but the version that really took over, especially in Mexico, is espresso with Licor 43. This Spanish liqueur is sweet, vanilla-forward, and slightly citrusy, making it a perfect pairing with coffee. So let’s see how both ingredients come together to form the Carajillo, it’s Cocktail Time!

The Carajillo

● 1 shot Espresso

● 1 shot Licor 43

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

There are two ways to order a modern Carajillo. You can ask for it to be made “puesto”, and you’ll get a layered drink of liqueur and the coffee over ice, but a more popular version is the shakeado. For this you just have to build the cocktail in a shaker along with ice, then shake hard. This second method will build a nice foam and bring everything together once you double strain the drink into a chilled rocks glass with fresh ice., 

In a way, the Carajillo is almost a simplified Espresso Martini, and that’s also what makes it so adaptable. So it was really only a matter of time before someone took that flavor profile and turned it into an Old Fashioned. Sean O’Connor-Combes did this in San Diego back in 2022, and it later appeared in The Madrusan Cocktail Companion book, but it was slightly simplified.

This latter version is the one made by The Educated Barfly, using Licor 43, coffee liqueur, cognac and rye–super simple. Jordan Hughes, aka The High Proof Preacher, also shared his own Carajillo Old Fashioned riff using tequila reposado, Licor 43, coffee liqueur, orange and cacao bitters. The version that really took off was from the printed recipe, made by Leandro, and it got picked up by more or less every cocktail creator out there.

What’s great about this recipe is that it’s easy to replicate, but flexible enough to make it your own–and that’s what turned a classic coffee drink into a full-blown cocktail trend. So let’s see what it’s all about. 

Carajillo Old Fashioned

● 30mL · 1oz Cognac

● 30mL · 1oz Rye Whiskey

● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Licor 43

● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Coffee Liqueur

● Angostura Bitters (optional)

Coffee Beans Garnish

Start with a chilled mixing glass, then add in the ingredients along with plenty of ice. Stir until properly chilled and diluted, and if you want added coffee notes you can add some coffee beans to the mixing glass for a Regal stir. Now strain over the big clear ice block, and the three coffee beans as garnish is basically standard by now.

When you think about it, the transition from Carajillo to Carajillo Old Fashioned made a lot of sense, but when I saw that recipe I quickly thought if it could work as a Highball too.  Before you find out, I want to share my new favorite way of smoking a cocktail, and it’s without the hassle of using a smoker. It can even replace a float of peated scotch for the classic Penicillin. 

It’s called YGGDRASIL ASH, and it’s a cocktail perfume from TAVMA. Just one or two sprays is enough to add notes of pinewood, pink pepper, barbecue and smoke to every sip of your drink. These perfumes are made for bars and cocktail enthusiasts, and each bottle can transform up to 500 cocktails. Skip the hassle and grab a bottle of YGGDRASIL ASH cocktail perfume on tavma.co, and use my discount code KEVIN10 for 10% off and give your cocktails character. 

Now for the Carajillo Highball I tried a few different recipes, until landing on this one, which I think is a real winner. Let me show you!

Carajillo Highball

● 30mL · 1oz Licor 43

● 30mL · 1oz Reposado Tequila

● 60mL · 2oz Soda Water

● 1 shot Espresso

Orange Wedge and Salted Rim Garnish

Start with a well-chilled highball glass that’s rimmed with salt, then fill it with ice. Now add in the ingredients, making sure your soda water is as cold as possible and top up the cocktail. Give it a gentle stir, and lastly add an orange wedge for garnish. It’s so simple, so delicious–I’m proud, that I can say. I thought of it first, at least I think I did, but more importantly it proves that these flavors work across completely different formats. So let’s take it a step further.

At this point, we know these building blocks work. All we need is coffee, vanilla, and texture, and it works across different formats. So for my version, I’m taking those proven blocks, pairing them with ingredients and flavors that naturally belong with them, and stacking everything together in a new way–not reinventing the wheel, just creating a new way of enjoying the ride.

To do this I need to make a few DIY ingredients, starting with vanilla tincture. 

Vanilla Tincture

● 3g Vanilla Bean (split and scraped)

● 75mL · 2.5oz 100 Proof Vodka

In a sous vide bag add a vanilla bean that’s split lengthwise, with the seeds scraped out for maximum extraction. Now vacuum seal the bag and place it in the bath for 60°C or 140°F. The tincture will be ready in 3 hours instead of 2 weeks, like it would be if you did this in a sealed jar at room temperature. Once it’s cooled, strain through a coffee filter and that’s ready for the cocktail or your next batch of vanilla syrup.

Next, we have to make cacao cognac, which I’ll make in a similar manner to how you make chocolate milk.

Cacao Cognac

● 180mL · 6oz Cognac

● 9g Cacao Powder

I’m simply taking cognac and stirring in some high-quality cacao. This is the simplest way of getting deep cacao notes into any spirit, and you can do this using a magnetic stirrer or do this by hand. Stir this for 10 minutes, then strain it through a coffee filter until the liquid runs completely clear. Simple. Bottle, and that’s it.

Next, we’ll make some coffee foam to crown the cocktail. 

Coffee Foam

● 30g Ground Coffee

● 400g Hot Water

● 300mL Strong Brewed Coffee

● 30mL · 1oz Simple Syrup

● 120mL · 4oz Vegg White

● 1 dash Saline Solution

● 1 N₂O cartridge

Start with a stronger-than-usual pour-over brew. I want the flavor of coffee to shine in the foam, even as you drink the cocktail through it. Once the coffee has dripped through and fully chilled I’ll combine it with simple syrup, Vegg White–a wonderful foaming solution that mimics egg white–and a dash of saline solution.

We’ll blend this mixture in a blender or with a stick blender, then pour it into an iSi siphon and charge it with a nitrous oxide cartridge. Give it a good shake and place it in the fridge. Now all that’s left is the source for sweetness, and for this I’ll be using a syrup made with floral honey. You can craft your own too by using my cocktail calculators to make sure the level of sugar in it is perfect. With that it’s time to make the Carajillo Tiempo.

Carajillo Tiempo

● 30mL · 1oz Cacao Cognac

● 30mL · 1oz Rye Whiskey

● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Honey Syrup

● 4 dashes Orange Bitters

● 1.5mL Vanilla Tincture

● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution

Coffee Foam Garnish

Again start with a chilled mixing glass, and add in everything but the foam.  Add plenty of ice and stir until it’s well chilled and diluted, then serve the cocktail over a clear ice cube before adding the final touch: coffee foam, for aroma, flavor and texture. This is the Carajillo in true Cocktail Time style. It might be a lot of work when replicating it for it to become a trend… but what makes for a good cocktail trend?

For something to become a trend, it needs to start with a good idea, but a good idea on its own isn’t enough. It also has to be presented in a way people connect and engage with it. Ideally, it also needs a bit of a wow factor. That’s how things like Super Juice, the Parmesan Espresso Martini, the Batanga, and now the Carajillo take off.

I often get asked… What will be the next trend? That depends on you. You’re the key. So if you want the Carajillo Highball, or the Carajillo Tiempo, to join the Carajillo trend, all you need to do is make it, enjoy it and share it. Until next time, cheers, Friends of Cocktails.