Spanish Coffee Cocktail with Brandy

For a totally different experience with a coffee cocktail, this Spanish Coffee Cocktail with Brandy is a must try; absolutely swoon-worthy with the flavors of orange and brandy.

Winter officially starts in December, although in Colorado we’ve already had snow and the biting cold that says Winter is here, and it calls for a warming cocktail like this Spanish Coffee Cocktail with Brandy.

I am a died in the wool (and wear a fair share of it to keep warm too!), staunch environmental conservationist so while my home is pretty tight and my utility bills manageable, I continue to keep my thermostat set lower than most people.

I think I do it ostensibly to ‘save it for the children’ but my children walk in the door and first thing out of their mouths is ‘turn up the heat!’ so I’ve failed somewhere. Instead I’ll offer them some thick socks and a warm drink like this Spanish Coffee Cocktail with Brandy…it helps!

So the gist of this tale is that there are certainly days when the thought of making a cold cocktail doesn’t work and yesterday was one of those days. My tootsies were freezing and my hunt for something warm landed on warm coffee drinks.

We’re all familiar with Irish Coffee but I’m betting a visit to Spain will leave you warmed to your toes even more. I have to tell you this Spanish Coffee with Brandy, Whipped Cream, and orange zest really did the trick. If given a choice between this and the Irish…I’m going to Spain!

I first had a Spanish Coffee cocktail not long ago when I met some friends for Happy Hour. It was simple, a combination of coffee and brandy, called a Carajillo. I was in the mood for warm then too but I forgot to beg the bartender for his recipe so I was on my own.

OH MY…there are a million recipes so I’ve taken the general idea and done my own thing.

One important thing? No Kahlua like many recipes suggested. I wanted this to be like what I had tasted at the restaurant, combining coffee and brandy were important. I actually used a bottle of Cognac (how on earth could I be out of simple brandy?), and while it’s not important to use the cream of the brandy crop like I did, it was not a bad thing.

What’s the difference? Brandy is a general term for a distilled spirit made from fermented fruit, while cognac is a specific type of brandy made from grapes in the Cognac region of France. Cognac is made by distilling grapes into wine, then distilling the wine twice and aging it in barrels. So Cognac is brandy but most brandy is not Cognac! Save the good stuff for sipping…or like I did, indulging!

I think the whole key to this Spanish Coffee Cocktail is the orange. Not a drop of orange is in the drink in the form of juice or liqueur but it is nonetheless very present. The rim is rubbed with an orange slice to help coat it with turbinado sugar and that zest on the top is so fragrant that it is part of the experience with every sip.

If you don’t have raw sugar, you can substitute plain brown sugar but try to find the raw product. I use it every day in my morning coffee and that bit of molasses adds a richness I love. No longer a difficult to find exotic ingredient either, you can find it in the aisle of most grocery stores next to their stores of granulated sugars.

Part of why I like using it is the mouthfeel; it adds a nice crunchy sugary element that makes it more fun to drink any cocktail!

I made this Spanish Coffee Cocktail with Brandy to test it once but had to make it again today to get photos. Poor me. I was sipping while I wrote; apologies in advance for any typos, OK? But do try this…it’s eye rolling good. Cheers!

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