With a desire to create the ultimate Espresso Martini, Melbourne-based beverage innovation and hospitality group, Worksmith has launched Grada Coffee + Spirit. It’s a single-farm hot brewed coffee fortified with Australian spirit influenced by terroir, variety, and process with an emphasis on the coffee.
With beans sourced from Fazenda Progresso in Bahia, Brazil, farmed by the Borré family, this traceable coffee is what gives Grada its notes of rum and raisin, butterscotch, and chocolate.
Worksmith’s hospitality staff have been in deep R&D for the past two years, developing exceptional batched cocktails for venues while perfecting and refining recipes. They also run a small coffee company, Stella, that sources green beans from unique producers around the world, roasting them in Melbourne.
With the coffee component led by Tim Varney, Stella’s founder, and the booze part led by Darren Leaney, the team began work on a coffee-first Espresso Martini that puts single producers at the heart of the liquid.
What sounded easy enough turned into an 18-month journey to come up with the best blend. Grada’s distinction is the proprietary hot-extraction technique perfected by Tim and Darren.
This technique ensures a complex flavour intensity and lifted aroma unachievable with cold brew. Importantly, the cream on the top is the beautiful frothy head it leaves on the Espresso Martini.
Leaney says, “Grada is a liquid we are incredibly proud to have created. It’s complex, innovative and, most importantly, delicious. Looking to the past, present and future for inspiration and techniques allowed us to create a liquid that belies the complexity of incredible single-farm coffee. A coffee liqueur that’s led by coffee and also doubles as an Espresso Martini; what’s not to love?
“Grada is a testament to our relentless pursuit of crafting liquid experiences that transcend boundaries. It’s a symphony of flavours that not only celebrates the artistry of coffee but also invites you to explore the uncharted territories of the cocktail realm. With Grada, we’ve merged passion with innovation to redefine how we savour both coffee and spirits.”
Visit https://worksmith.io/.
Grada (16% ABV) is RRP $58 available at https://www.grada.coffee, Blackheart & Sparrows stores and at your favourite bars (Bar Bellamy Melbourne, The Waratah Sydney, The Foxtrot Crows Nest and Jacobys Tiki Bar Newtown).
