Café Brûlot
(Cafe Brulot)
Café brûlot is one of the legendary vintage cocktails that originated in New Orleans. The recipe is complex and includes one orange zest cut into one long spiral and studded with cloves. Other ingredients include extra orange zest, coffee, sugar, lemon zest, cinnamon, brandy, and orange liqueur.
The ingredients, apart from the orange strip and coffee, are placed in a saucepan and are then heated and transferred into a specialized brûlot bowl. The liquid is poured into a ladle and is then carefully set on fire. This fiery liquid should then be poured over the long orange strip, allowing the drink to drip into the bowl, igniting what was left inside.
Finally, brewed coffee is added, and the drink is mixed until the flames are extinguished. Café brûlot is usually served in specialized brûlot glasses or demitasse cups. Read more
Spices and citrus peel are not added to the glass. The drink is still prepared in legendary New Orleans restaurants such as Arnaud's, Antoine's, and Galatoire's. The preparation is usually theatrical and done tableside. Café brûlot was probably invented at Antoine's by Jules Alciatore, sometime in the 1880s.
It was allegedly inspired by a combination that was enjoyed by the French. They would douse a sugar cube with brandy, set it on fire, and then drop it into hot coffee. Another theory says that it was inspired by a similar street show performed by a pirate Jean Lafitte.
