The 11 Absolute Best Coffee Cocktails

Coffee and cocktails hold valuable positions in the world of drinks. Although coffee is an everyday routine for most coffee drinkers, it plays a more significant role than you might think. A cup of coffee not only helps you start your day, but it also helps you keep it going and maybe even prolong it. Meanwhile, a well-made cocktail can function as an early evening lift, a meal enhancer, or a stimulant for a night out or spent at home with good company.

In this age of craft cocktails and increased attention to quality coffee, there has never been a better time to take advantage of a marriage between the two. There are already well-known, coffee-flavored cocktail classics out there, but new ones continue to pop up in this revitalized cocktail scene thriving today. The world of coffee cocktails includes timeless classics, modern revelations, and recipes that have been right before you this whole time — without you knowing it.

There is no doubt that the White Russian owes much of whatever popularity it holds today to the cult-classic film "The Big Lebowski." According to Focus Features, the iconic main character drinks nine of them throughout the film.

This movie was released in 1998, but "the Dude's" favorite cocktail had actually been around for decades prior (via Chilled). In the 1950s, sweet, milky cocktails were all the rage, and the White Russian was a direct result of the craze. The drink is a riff on the original Black Russian, created by a Belgian bartender named Gustave Tops in 1949.

The Black Russian was made with equal parts vodka and coffee liqueur and was created by Tops to honor a visit from the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, Perle Mesta. In the years following, when heavy cream began being widely utilized in cocktails, it was added to the Black Russian and so became the White Russian.

The White Russian has since, large in part to The Big Lebowski, become an undeniable classic cocktail. It is a rich, decadent, easy-sipping treat. The coffee liqueur and cream are naturally symbiotic, and the vodka underlies with stiffness and strength. There have been many variations of the White Russian to pop up since its revival in the 1990s, such as the White Mexican, which swaps out cream for horchata, or the White Cuban, which subs in rum for vodka. However, it is only the classic White Russian of which the Dude abides.

The Carajillo is another super simple coffee cocktail with just two ingredients. However, this drink's original form is different from what it is recognized today, according to Punch. The first known renditions of the Carajillo were made of coffee and rum and were originally from Cuba. The Carajillos recognized today are made by combining espresso and Licor 43. This updated version was born in Spain but has since become the drink of Mexican youth.

In Mexico City's nightlife, the Carajillo has become young drinkers' alternative to more dangerous energetic drinks like vodka-Red Bull. It's a more refined jolt of energy, yet accessible to everyone. There is some etiquette should you order a Carajillo; you must specify if you want it puesto, meaning the coffee is layered neatly on top of the liqueur, or shakeado, where the ingredients are shaken together into a delicious, homogenous froth.

Licor 43 is a liqueur that gets its name from the number of its ingredients. True to that, it is its own thing, incomparable to others. The best way to describe it would be that it is sweet, as there is no distinct or dominant flavor, just a concentrated saccharine that requires balance from an even stronger shot of espresso. The Carajillo is a fantastic example of simple pleasure as just two ingredients combine for a rich, sharp pick-me-up fit whenever you need one or as a refresher when you want a tasty cocktail.

Of all the dessert cocktails, the Mudslide reigns supreme in excess. This cocktail is almost not even a cocktail but rather a full-scale sweet treat that happens to have booze in it. Regardless, it's a classic coffee cocktail for a reason.

According to Wine Enthusiast, the Mudslide came about in the 1970s at the Rum Point Club's Wreck Bar during a trend full of White Russians. Apparently, with the popularity of the White Russian looming large, the bartender ran out of cream. So, in improvisation, they replaced the normal cream with Bailey's Irish Cream, blended the three ingredients, and the Mudslide came to fantastic fruition. This is the most fundamental origin story of the Mudslide, which is usually not made today in the same way it was originally.

Since its creation, the Mudslide has also gone on to include ice cream, making it a sort of boozy milkshake, but better. You can easily alter this drink by swapping out the vodka for another liquor, such as your favorite whiskey, which can add flavor and stand up to the other rich ingredients without getting overpowered. This cocktail is an especially fun one to make yourself right at home. With the right Mudslide recipe, you can craft your own by homemaking the Irish cream and infusing the coffee liqueur with bourbon.

If you ever finish a meal at can't decide between an after-dinner cocktail or a rich dessert, the Mudslide achieves the best of both worlds.

This next cocktail is another modern innovation and another minor riff on a classic drink. The Revolver was invented by John Santer, a San Francisco-based bartender who came up with it in 2004, according to Punch.

The inspiration behind the Revolver came from Santer's friend, who preferred his Manhattans with the addition of creme de cacao. After experimenting, Santer eventually settled on coffee liqueur for this addition and lost the sweet vermouth altogether. Also, Santer replaced the traditional Angostura bitters in his Manhattan with orange bitters and finished the cocktail by expressing the oils of an orange peel through a lighted match.

The name "Revolver" does not come from this stylish, firey finish, however. It comes from the whiskey Santer used to craft this drink, Bulleit, Punch continues. Santer found himself with a full case of the just-released whiskey and had to find a way to sell it, and the Revolver became his means to do so. The name is also an homage to The Beatles' 1966 album.

If you like Manhattans and want to delve into the wide array of variations on the classic cocktail, the Revolver is an excellent place to start. The whiskey and coffee liqueur combine for a harmonious, complex, mellow cocktail that is brightened up by the orange bitters. This drink is a classic example of how one slight alteration makes for an entirely new cocktail and one that can sustain on its own merit.

Tiki cocktails being unique, voluminous, and made up of various ingredients is always a given. The typical ingredients of fruit juices, orgeat and other syrups, and eye-catching garnishes are typical, but what is not typical is the inclusion of coffee.

This tiki cocktail coffee recipe by Kevin Beary was invented for the bar Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago. Beary, like any modern and resourceful bartender, made his own coffee liqueur for this drink, but it can easily be made with your preferred store-bought option.

This cocktail clocks in at a whopping volume of nearly six ounces. The ingredients include one ounce each of Black Strap rum, Madeira wine, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and coffee liqueur, a quarter-ounce each of spiced rum, dark Jamaican rum, and Falernum, and three dashes of tiki bitters. These ingredients are shaken with ice, strained in a tiki glass large enough to hold it all, and garnished with pineapple prawns, a pineapple wedge, and coffee beans.

Madeira is a fortified wine made in Madeira, Portugal, and ranges in dryness and sweetness, but a drier bottle is best for this cocktail. Falernum is a common cocktail syrup used in tiki drinks and is usually regarded as a spice-forward version of orgeat. These two ingredients, along with the three different rums, the juices, and the coffee liqueur, combine for a cocktail that is not too sweet or bitter, with the right amount of kick in every department necessary.