Well, the snow vanished from my digital campsite in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp today, which must mean that picnic season is officially here — or at least on the way soon. And wouldn’t you know it? The perfect picnic drink will be arriving soon, too: Kahlua is releasing a canned Espresso-Style Martini for Spring 2019, letting you take your coffee-flavored cocktails on the go. Heck, and yes.
The Kahlua Espresso-Style Martini combines vodka, Kahlua coffee liqueur, and actual coffee into a drink I will never not think of as chocolate milk for grownups, all ready to drink right out of a can — no bartender or cocktail shaker required. Each can will hold 200 milliliters, or about 6.8 fluid ounces; they’re meant to serve two, according to Kahlua’s website. The drink is 4.5 percent ABV, reports Delish, and will be available in four-packs starting in the spring of 2019.
However, the most notable innovation is actually the drink’s packaging, not the drink itself. The cans all have a “smart nitrogen widget” in them which creates a glorious crema sort of thing on the top of the beverage when you crack it open. In case you need a refresher on your coffee terminology, crema is that velvety foam that floats across the top of a just-pulled shot of espresso; indeed, it’s considered an essential part of the espresso-drinking experience. According to the Spruce Eat, it’s also what separates really great espresso from just OK espresso, as well as a really great barista from just an OK one.
Nitrogen widgets have been used in canned beers like Guinness to create a foamy head for ages, but according to Kahlua, it’s new for the canned cocktail world (or ready-to-drink cocktail world, if you want to sound fancy) — just like it’ll be new for the canned soda world whenever Nitro Pepsi finally arrives. It is a nice touch, finding a way to add crema to an espresso-based cocktail you pour right of a can; the espresso may not be freshly pulled, but you can still get that same experience here. Plus, y’know, booze. So, that’s fun.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first we’ve heard of the new drink; the canned Kahlua Espresso Martini was originally announced in August of 2018. Said Colin Kavanagh, vice president of global marketing for Malibu and Kahlua, to trade publication The Spirits Business at the time, “Coffee culture is booming around the world and at the same time we are seeing an increased demand for a high-standard cocktail experience at home. We therefore developed the Kahlua Espresso Martini can to tap into this emerging opportunity.” The Spirits Business reported that the drink would launch “in six markets worldwide” in September.
Clearly the United States was not one of those markets, though, as we’re only just getting it now. Indeed, the observant will note that the original can art released with the August announcement bears only the legend “Kahlua Espresso Martini” — not “Kahlua Espresso-Style Martini.” But hey, you know what? It’s OK. The drink is finally coming to the United States this spring as the Kahlua Espresso-Style Martini, and all is right with the boozy beverage world.
Look for Kahlua’s Espresso-Style Martini cans at your favorite booze purveyor soon — and in the meantime, you can always just mix yourself up a Mudslide while you’re waiting.
