Cafe Brulot
Brandy, orange liqueur, sugar, cloves, cinnamon and citrus peel set alight in a bowl, then quenched with strong New Orleans coffee and ladled into small cups. It is warm, sweet, spiced and smells of burnt orange, and it is meant to be made in front of an audience.
At a glance
- Coffee : spirits
- 3:1
- Active time
- 10 min
- Total time
- 15 min
- Makes
- 6 demitasse cups
- Serve
- Hot, in small cups
- Kit
- Heatproof bowl
Ingredients
Note: Have the hot coffee ready in a jug before anything is lit. It is what puts the fire out.
Method
-
Peel and stud the orange
Cut the orange peel away in one long, unbroken spiral with a sharp knife. Press the cloves into it along its length.
-
Warm the spirits with the spices
Put the lemon peel, cinnamon, sugar, brandy and curaçao in the bowl. Warm them gently over a low flame or a warmer, stirring until the sugar starts to dissolve. Take it off the heat.
Warm spirit lights easily and burns evenly. Cold spirit may not light at all.
2 to 3 minutes -
Light it
With your face and hair well back, light the surface with a long match. Hook the orange spiral on a fork, hold it over the bowl, and ladle the burning liquid slowly down the peel so the flames run along it.
This is the show. Keep it short, about a minute.
Flame about 1 minute -
Put it out with coffee
Pour the hot coffee steadily into the bowl. The flames go out. Stir.
-
Ladle into small cups
Ladle into demitasse cups, leaving the spices and peel behind, and serve at once.
Why this works
Flaming does real work here. As the brandy burns, it caramelises the sugar dissolved in it, and the heat drives aromatic oils out of the citrus peel and spices. Ladling the burning spirit down the orange spiral is not just for show. The flame scorches the peel's surface and releases its limonene and other oils into the bowl, giving the drink a strong burnt-orange aroma you cannot get any other way. Burning also removes some of the alcohol, so the finished drink is warming but not harsh.
The coffee goes in last and puts the fire out by cooling and smothering it. That timing is the main safety feature. It also matters for flavour: coffee added to burning spirit stops the caramelisation at the right moment, before the sugar scorches.
New Orleans coffee is usually blended with roasted chicory root, a habit from the nineteenth century and the Civil War, when coffee was scarce and expensive. Chicory adds body and a dark, woody bitterness that stands up to sugar, citrus and spice. Plain dark roast works, but chicory is the authentic choice.
The drink is closely associated with Antoine's, the New Orleans restaurant founded in 1840, where Jules Alciatore is usually credited with creating it in the late nineteenth century. Brûlot means burnt brandy, and the restaurant still makes it tableside with the lights dimmed. A spicier home relative, café diablo, takes the same idea further.
Variations
- Café diablo: the same method with more spice and often coffee liqueur. See café diablo.
- Without flaming: warm everything together and add the coffee. Simpler, safer and less aromatic.
- With Grand Marnier: in place of curaçao, for a richer orange note.
- Smaller batch: halve everything and use a large heatproof mug, with the same care.
This recipe sets spirit alight. Use a heatproof metal or thick ceramic bowl, never glass. Keep your face, hair and sleeves back, use a long match, keep the bottles capped and away from the table, never add more spirit to a flame, and have a lid or tray ready to smother it. Do it on a stable surface away from curtains and anything flammable.
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Questions
What is café brûlot?
A New Orleans coffee made by flaming brandy and orange liqueur with sugar, spices and citrus peel, then adding hot coffee. It is usually prepared tableside.
Who invented café brûlot?
It is usually credited to Jules Alciatore of Antoine's restaurant in New Orleans, in the late nineteenth century.
Do you have to flame café brûlot?
No. Warming the spirits, sugar and spices and then adding coffee makes a similar drink. Flaming adds a caramel and burnt-orange aroma and burns off some alcohol.
What is the difference between café brûlot and café diablo?
They are close relatives. Café diablo is generally spicier and often includes coffee liqueur. Brûlot is the Antoine's original.