Bea Bradsell on the Espresso Martini

THE MAN BEHIND

THE ESPRESSO MARTINI

Bea Bradsell talks about her father, the late Richard ‘Dick’ Bradsell, legendary London barman, and mastermind behind the creation of the Espresso Martini.

Drinks Trade: Your father, Richard ‘Dick’ Bradsell was known as the Cocktail King and invented what he called the Vodka Espresso in London in the 1980’s that became the Espresso Martini. Can you tell us a bit about how that happened?

Bea Bradsell: I feel like the story has almost been written into legend by now but often gets mistold.

It was created when Dad was working at the Soho Brasserie in the early-to-mid ‘80s. They had just had a new Illy espresso machine installed and a training from Marco Arrigo, the head of quality for Illy. A well-known model walked in to the bar, he never gave the name of the model but stated that it was most definitely not Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell as they both would have been too young. She asked for a drink to 58|drinks trade ‘wake her up and f*#k her up’. As Dad’s ice well was already covered in coffee grounds from the newly installed machine they were still learning to use, he had coffee on the brain. He shook up vodka, espresso, Kahlua and sugar and poured it over the rocks and the Vodka Espresso was born.

Over the years he developed it and created the straight-up Espresso Martini, he then briefly changed the name for Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy where it was served as the Pharmaceutical Stimulant, but it was essentially the same drink.

Left: Cocktail King Richard ‘Dick’ Bradsell Right: Bea Bradsell

Bea and Dick Bradsell: Photo courtesy of Johnnie Pakington for The Cocktail Lovers Magazine. www.thecocktaillovers.com; Instagram@thecocktaillovers

DT: How in your opinion has his cocktail changed and taken shape over time?

BB: It started off on the rocks with much simpler ingredients, but the final recipe took several years to perfect. His final recipe came by looking at it in the context of a Brandy Alexander. He thought of them as cocktails with two ingredients on different end of the flavour spectrum with bridging ingredients that fill the gaps in the palate.

Since then the world of coffee cocktails has grown so much. You have brands like Mr Black, Tia Maria and Grey Goose looking at coffee culture and how this can be adapted into bartending. I regularly judge Espresso Martini competitions and every time I’m amazed at the levels of creativity the drink can inspire.

DT: What did he think about the Espresso Martini becoming such a global icon?

BB: He was incredibly proud. He loved how much his drinks travelled, and he loved how people experimented with them. He was never particularly protective about his drinks and never wanted to trademark them and I think that’s a big reason for why so many of them have become so popular all over the world.

DT: UK drinks critic, Simon Difford, reported that Dick said he could ‘rarely enter a bar without an enthusiastic bartender thrusting his version of the (Espresso Martini) drink at him.’ What in his mind made the perfect Espresso Martini?

BB: Though Dad appreciated people experimenting with the drink his final recipe was his favourite and it’s mine as well. 50mls Vodka, 25 mls Espresso, 15mls Kahlua, 10mls Tia Maria and sugar to the guest’s taste. The coffee was always very important to him. He believed it needed to be VERY strong espresso coffee, freshly made. However, speed of service always came first so he would rather batch espresso at the start of shift than pull a fresh espresso for each cocktail.

DT: Dick was recognised as one of the greatest bartenders of the 20th century and invented a number of great cocktails such as The Bramble and The Treacle. What do you think was his greatest achievement - apart from you of course?!

BB: I think to Dad what he was most proud of was the community he created in his venues, that was what it was all about for him. He had regulars that had followed him from his first cocktail bar ‘Zanzibar’ that still regularly visited him at El Camion, and have even come to visit me in recent years. I think that meant more to him than any award or accolade.

DT: Obviously his love of all things drinks has rubbed off on his daughter, what did your father teach you about the wonderful world of cocktails?

BB: I don’t think there’s a short answer to this one. We were best friends and worked together for years (I started making cocktails at six) and we regularly discussed opinions on service, cocktails and the industry in general. I think the thing that stuck with me most was respect for your guest. The average guest doesn’t care if their bartender is particularly well known, they just want friendly service and a nice drink, quickly. In hospitality our job is to take care of guests and that should always be the end goal. Going that little bit further to help someone really makes all the difference, whether it be something as simple as always having a pen or lighter ready, keeping water topped up, creating a list of bars to visit for someone from out of town or even introducing them to their future spouse he was always willing to go the extra mile.