The Coffee Cocktail is a classic recipe, traced back to Jerry Thomas’ 1887 Bartender’s Guide (Amazon link). Thomas’ original recipe appears above, and thankfully, The Cocktail Spirit has translated the old-timey language (“pony,” “goblet,” etc) into modern measurements.

As Jerry Thomas says, the Coffee Cocktail is apparently named after it’s visual appearance, because it contains no coffee. Here it is:

Coffee Cocktail

• 1 1/2 oz port
• 1 1/2 oz brandy
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• 1 whole egg
• dash of bitters
• put all ingredients into a shaker and shake without ice to froth the egg
• add ice to the shaker and shake more to chill
• pour into a chilled wine or cocktail glass

Special thanks to St. Clair, a local winery who provided me with their excellent Port for this recipe.