The 3 Ingredient Beer Cocktail For Espresso Martini Lovers

Beer in a cocktail? It might sound odd, but when you pair the right kind of beer with complementary ingredients, you can achieve drink nirvana. If an espresso martini is your drink of choice, you can make a simple, three-ingredient beer cocktail that achieves that same rich coffee flavor profile with a hoppy twist. It starts with reaching for a specific brew: stout beer. Stouts usually taste dark and toasty with hints of caramel, chocolate, and coffee, so mixing one with espresso and coffee liqueur brings all those decadent flavors forward.

To make this cocktail, mix equal parts chilled espresso (or instant coffee, a simple substitute in an espresso martini) with coffee liqueur like Kahlua, and chill for at least 30 minutes. Pour the mixture evenly into two beer glasses, along with a half-bottle of stout beer into each, and serve.

The most fun aspect of this drink is that stout beer comes in different varieties. Experiment with different styles to achieve your perfect espresso beer cocktail. Brewed with cocoa extract, you can guess that chocolate stouts add a chocolatey creaminess, while breakfast stouts mix in hints of dark chocolate, roasted java, nutty oatmeal, and caramelized sugar. Pastry stouts taste like a bittersweet dessert with notes of toasted nuts, vanilla bean, and chocolate.

Not into coffee cocktails? Beer comes in many different styles and can transform your drinks into something entirely new. Sweet and tangy options like Belgian and German fruit beers provide a bubbly base for a beer cocktail. The Bodega Dog amps up a fruity beer by adding herbal gin mixed with ice in a highball glass. Rim the glass with spicy Tajín for an unexpected kick that enhances the citrus notes. Easy-to-make and potent, it's a surprising combination for a happy hour sip or crowd pleaser at a party.

Alternatively, you can try the Lagarita with a good cerveza. This drink combines tequila, orange liqueur, and fresh lime juice with your Mexican lager of choice. The light, crisp Mexican beer adds a refreshing effervescence, while the delicate citrus, orange, and green apple notes also work to highlight the fruitiness of the other ingredients.

A yuzu shandy beer cocktail adds an elevated twist to your summer shandy made with beer and lemonade. The drink consists of fresh yuzu juice, lemon juice, and sparkling lemonade with an American-style lager, served in a highball glass. The light body and hop concentration in American lagers add a crisp fizziness that rounds out the tart Japanese citrus fruit.