Espresso Martini, what’s in a drink?

After spending more than 15 years working for big names in the spirits industry, including Moet Hennessy and Pernod Ricard, Yves Cosentino decided to launch his own coffee liqueur brand: Algebra.

In his lab located in Streatham, the entrepreneur produces coffee liqueur which is then sold to bars and restaurants, in London and the UK as well as in a couple of European countries.

Entrepreneurship has been a steep learning curve.

Cosentino said: “You make a ton of mistakes initially, and you think, this is absolutely crazy, why did I ever start?

“I was always a bit of a geek when it comes to spirits.

“But I was more interested with what was going into the bottle than, you know, the marketing side of it.

“But then you learn, you get better and then it becomes almost second nature.”

The coffee liqueur is one of the key ingredients for the Espresso Martini, a cocktail that is back in fashion.

Jared Brown and Anistatia Miller, drinks experts, editors and former bartenders themselves, knew the cocktail’s inventor, Dick Bradsell.

They know all about the legend behind the origins of the drink in the best London bars.

Watch the full story below for more.

Thanks to bartender Lina and the Funkidory bar in Peckham for preparing the cocktails!

Algebra bottle picture credit: Aron Farkas