Caribbean Coffee Cocktail Recipe

The Caribbean Coffee is a rum-based coffee cocktail made with cold brew coffee liqueur, espresso, demerara syrup, and dark rum. It has a rich, caramel-forward flavor profile with bitter notes from the espresso and just enough sweetness. 

Essentially a dark rum–based Espresso Martini, the Caribbean Coffee swaps vodka with Ten To One Dark Rum and demerara syrup for simple syrup, and it calls for a bit more coffee liqueur than is traditionally used. The use of dark rum and demerara syrup yields a coffee cocktail with caramelized sweetness and plenty of depth. 

Ten To One’s Caribbean Dark Rum is made from a blend of rums from Trinidad, Barbados, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Its balance of smoky and savory notes of tobacco and leather mix seamlessly with its sweeter notes of vanilla, baking spices, and apples. It serves as the complex base in this simple coffee cocktail. 

Why the Caribbean Coffee works

Dark rum and coffee are a perfect match in this cocktail. Using both freshly brewed espresso and coffee liqueur (we like Mr Black Cold Brew liqueur for its balanced sweetness and pure coffee notes) creates multiple layers of coffee flavor for added depth and complexity. The espresso has a kick of acidity while the liqueur brings sweet and fruity coffee notes. 

Demerara syrup, a sugar syrup made from minimally processed brown sugar, has a nutty, caramelized flavor that matches the dark rum. A pinch of salt added directly to the cocktail shaker amplifies all the flavors in this drink and balances any extra sweetness.

This recipe was developed by Ten to One; the text was written by Lucy Simon.