We’ve been following the return of the espresso martini for a minute—or at least since September of last year when we spotted its resurgence thanks to TikTok. And while we originally attributed the heyday of the coffee cocktail to the mid to late 90s, we have recently revisited the trend to find that espresso martinis were very much a thing in the early 2000s as well.
The recent return of the espresso martini from the 90s and/or early 2000s (depending on who you ask) seems to mirror the fact that, after more than twenty years, trends from the Y2K era are back—baguette bags, colorful sunnies, body chains and, of course, martinis.
After sampling a variety of espresso martinis around the city from places like Parlor, Canary (via their holiday pop-up menu) and Golden Ox, we think it’s time to celebrate the famous drink with a martini mini-festival.
Kansas City magazine is teaming up with 9th & State in the West Bottoms to host Up All Night: A Celebration of the Espresso Martini at 9th & State on Thursday, April 7. Six of Kansas City’s coolest bartenders will be there to make their own take on the espresso martini. Your ticket will get you six mini-cocktails so you can try them all.
Participating bartenders:
Josh Melgoza from 9th & State
Hannah Jones from Corvino
Kaitlyn Wedd from The Golden Ox
Danny Faught at West Bottoms Whiskey
Taylor Reazin from Il Lazzarone
Levi Roye from The Mercury Room
Mary Henn
Mary Henn is a national award-winning writer with an MFA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is the current associate editor at Kansas City magazine.
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