Drambuie Cocktail for Burns Night: the Coffee Crème

This Drambuie cocktail combines the namesake Scottish whisky liqueur with coffee, creating a particularly good-looking drink with a well-rounded flavour featuring undertones of honey and chocolate. The coffee crème is a fantastic option for a Burns Night cocktail but this Drambuie drink can also be enjoyed throughout autumn and winter, especially over Christmas and Hogmanay.

This post is sponsored by Drambuie. The creative recipe, thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you are looking for a Scottish-themed drink that can make a showstopping appearance at winter celebrations, including Burns Night, look no further than this coffee crème Drambuie cocktail.

It’s a carefully balanced blend of Drambuie liqueur, espresso coffee, Scottish whisky and Creme de Cacao. These delicacies work in harmony with each other to create a drink that is brimming with mellow flavours.

When topped with a float of cream this Drambuie cocktail is transformed into a breath-taking extravaganza of contrasting colours, textures and flavours. It’s the perfect option for a Burns Night cocktail to impress guests with.

What is Drambuie?

Drambuie is made from aged Scottish whisky infused with heather honey harvested from the moorlands of Dumfries and Galloway and mixed with a secret blend of aromatic herbs & spices.

The history of this Scottish liqueur?

The origin of Drambuie liqueur goes back several centuries and can be traced to a legendary recipe created for Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart). According to legend, after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, he sought refuge with the MacKinnon clan on the Isle of Skye whilst awaiting safe passage home. As a thank you for their hospitality, Bonnie Prince Charlie gifted the clan the secret recipe for his favoured elixir.

Clan MacKinnon eventually passed the recipe on to a gentleman named James Ross. He made a few changes to the recipe, including using Scotch whisky and started selling the liqueur at a hotel on the Isle of Skye. When Ross died, his widow sold the recipe to another family, also named MacKinnon, who started producing Drambuie commercially from premises in Edinburgh in 1909.

The name Drambuie is derived from the Scots Gaelic ‘An Dram Buidheach’ and means “the drink that satisfies”.

What does Drambuie taste like?

Expect honeyed sweetness, mellowness and complexity. Drambuie has a smooth taste with hints of honey and spice.

It also possesses an underlying warming quality due to the use of Scotch whisky as the base spirit. This makes it a particularly welcome addition to a Burns Night cocktail.

Drambuie liqueur is also a lovely gateway whisky for those who don’t or wouldn’t usually consider drinking whisky at all. It’s therefore ideal at Burns when whisky is the drink of choice. 

How to drink Drambuie

There are a number of ways to enjoy Drambuie liqueur:

• Try it on the rocks – simply pour a measure over plenty of ice.
• Add a splash into your coffee and top with a float of cream – it’s guaranteed to warm your cockles.
• Mix it into cocktails. As well as this Burns Night cocktail try the classic Rusty Nail, or the Bonnie Prince Charlie Champagne cocktail.

These Drambuie drinks offer plenty of variation, but you could, alternatively, put away your cocktail glasses and use some of this lovely golden-coloured liqueur in your baking recipes instead. How about a sneaky Tipsy Affogato or some gorgeously tempting coffee and Drambuie meringue kisses?

What makes this burns night cocktail special?

When there are so many Drambuie drinks and cocktails to choose from, I’d like to explain why you should give this one a try:

• It’s quick and easy to make.
• And the appearance of this cocktail with Drambuie is visually striking.
• There’s a great balance of sweetness from the liqueur against the bitterness of espresso coffee.
• The inclusion of a little Scotch whisky stops this Drambuie cocktail from being too sweet and a dash of chocolate liqueur rounds the flavour profile out in an extravagant style.
• There are several ways to present this drink.
• And those with a particularly sweet tooth have the option of including a little honey to sweeten this Scottish cocktail if desired.

Ingredients

Drambuie: the clue is in the name and there is no substitution for this ingredient. It’s simply not possible to make Drambuie drinks without the star of the show so, for once, I’m offering no suggested alternative.

Drambuie liqueur brings a carefully balanced level of sweetness and a mellow flavour profile to this Scottish cocktail. It’s easy to pick up in supermarkets or online.

Espresso coffee: this should be strong, freshly brewed and blended with the other ingredients, including the ice, whilst still warm to bring about the perfect level of dilution.

Scottish whisky: Drambuie is the oldest Scottish liqueur so to make this a truly Scottish cocktail worthy of imbibing on Burns Night (or other celebrations such as Christmas or Hogmanay) use only Scotch whisky. Monkey Shoulder is an excellent option.

Creme de Cacao: ideally, use brown Creme de Cacao, but if white (clear) Creme de Cacao is what you have to hand, feel free to substitute that. De Kuyper is reliably good and again easy to pick up online.

Single cream: This has a relatively low fat content compared to whipping cream or double cream and it’s the ideal option for floating on top of cosy Drambuie drinks such as this one. Readers outside of the UK should look for a cream with a similar fat content (18%).

Additional sweetener (optional): this Drambuie cocktail has been designed to deliver rounded sweetness alongside the rich and robust flavours of coffee and whisky. No extra sugar is typically needed, but for anybody with a particularly pronounced sweet tooth who does wish to increase the sweetness, it’s perfectly fine to dissolve ½ teaspoon of Scottish honey into the hot espresso coffee before proceeding to mix this Burns Night cocktail.

Step-by-step instructions

This Drambuie cocktail is ideal for Burns Night celebrations as it’s very simple to knock together and needs no fancy equipment:

1. Put a large handful of ice into a mixing jug and pour in the alcohol and coffee.
2. Stir briskly for 30 seconds to chill, blend and dilute the ingredients.
3. Strain into an empty rocks glass or short tumbler (use a cocktail strainer or a small sieve).
4. Fill the glass up with ice.
5. Slowly pour the cream over the ice cubes so that it floats on top of the drink.

Ways to serve this Scottish cocktail

There are three ways to serve this Drambuie and coffee cocktail:

1. With a float of cream on top – I find around 15ml of cream sufficient, but more can be added if desired. A lovely way to serve this Drambuie cocktail to guests is to serve the cream in small bottles or jugs for each person to add as much as they like themselves.
2. The cream can be mixed into the cocktail – just add it to the mixing jug along with the rest of the ingredients, stir well and strain the drink into the glass.
3. Alternatively, omit the cream altogether. Arguably, it’s less visually impressive when served without cream, but this Burns Night cocktail does have enough going for it in the flavour department to get away with a more understated appearance.

Each rendition looks quite different, so it feels as if this recipe really provides three Drambuie drinks.

Expert tips

• Use plenty of ice when mixing this cocktail and when filling up the glass after pouring it. This Drambuie cocktail begs to be served ice cold.
• To ensure the best coffee flavour use freshly brewed espresso coffee.
• Use 8-10g ground espresso and brew it in a coffee machine to produce a 20ml shot of espresso. It’s the perfect strength for this Drambuie and coffee cocktail.
• Add the cream at the point of serving and pour it slowly over an ice cube to allow it to float over the top of the drink.
• Avoid pouring the cream quickly and don’t pour directly into the liquid as there is a risk it will sink.
• Not sure whether to float the cream or mix it in? Float the cream on top but serve the cocktail with a small spoon alongside so guests can elect to mix the cream into their Drambuie drinks if desired.

Frequently asked questions

More cocktails with Drambuie

Fancy some more Scottish cocktails with Drambuie for your Burns Night celebrations? Take a look at the The Rusty Nail. It’s a classic blend of Drambuie and Scotch whisky.

And if you’re in the mood for more Drambuie and coffee cocktails head to the Drambuie website for plenty more inspiration. There’s bound to be something to take your fancy.

Have you made this Scotch and Drambuie Cocktail? If you have please give it a rating or leave a comment – I love to hear how you get along with my creations.

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