The best coffee liqueur to serve after dinner
If you like your booze to come with an extra kick, coffee-flavoured liqueurs, often made with tequila or other spirits, are the way to go. Here are 10 of the best bottles for caffeine lovers.
Coffee liqueurs are diverse, and balance sophistication with decadence. While liqueurs themselves are usually sweet spirits drunk after meals, coffee-flavoured liqueurs act as both a dessert and digestif.
Coffee liqueurs combine the best of both worlds (and save you the cost of ordering both coffee and a digestif). These bittersweet tipples are the perfect way to round off any hearty meal, satisfying your sweet tooth and calming your stomach.
Here are the best coffee liqueurs on the market – they're sure to please guests and keep them going after dinner. For more, visit our review section to find over 200 buyer's guides, including taste tests of gin, whisky, vodka, rum, brandy and more.
If you are interested in more coffee inspiration, check out expert barista Celeste Wong's recommendations for the best moka pots, gooseneck kettles, coffee grinders and decaf coffee to buy on our sister brand, olive magazine:
- Best moka pots to buy
- Best gooseneck kettles to buy
- Best coffee grinders to buy
- Best decaf coffee to buy
The best coffee liqueurs at a glance
- Best for strong coffee flavour: Mr Black cold brew coffee liqueur, £23
- Best London-based coffee liqueur: Cold & Blac coffee liqueur, £29.95
- Best tequila-based coffee liqueur: Cazcabel coffee tequila, £21.39
- Best intense coffee liqueur: Manly Spirits Co. BlackFin cold brew coffee liqueur, £32.95
- Best high ABV coffee liqueur: Sierra Milenario cafe tequila, £31.99
- Best classic coffee liqueur: Kahlua, £15.95
- Best after dinner coffee liqueur: Bepi Tosolini Expré espresso coffee liqueur, £28.45
The best coffee liqueurs to buy 2023
Mr. Black cold brew coffee liqueur
- Available from Waitrose Cellar (£23), Laithwaites (£23), Amazon (£29.45)
Best for strong coffee flavour
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 25%
This Aussie offering is made with Australian grain spirit and a trio of coffee bean varieties from around the world. Deep black in colour, this digestif demands respect, and its complex bitter notes range from strong espresso to comforting chocolate. It's a benchmark for coffee liqueurs.
Read our full review of Mr. Black cold press
Cold & Blac coffee liqueur
Best London-based coffee liqueur
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 21%
Fresh out of ultra-hip Dalston is London’s first coffee liqueur, from Cold & Blac. Photographer and mixologist Tem Mellese launched this finely balanced botanical brew that matches fresh coffee with caramel and chocolate. It's a refreshingly sweet tipple that will keep you chatting into the small hours. Enjoy with tonic to fully experience all this complex concoction has to offer.
Read our full review of Cold & Blac coffee liqueur
Cazcabel coffee tequila
Best tequila-based coffee liqueur
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 34%
Hailing from the Jalisco mountains of Mexico, this liqueur blends coffee with Cazacabel's tequila blanco. It's the perfect marriage of sharp tequila and bitter coffee, which combine for a rounded spirit that fits perfectly into a black coffee. It makes a fun base for eccentric cocktails – this is one of the best coffee liqueurs for an espresso martini.
Read our full review of Cazcabel coffee tequila
Manly Spirits Co. BlackFin cold brew coffee liqueur
Best intense coffee liqueur
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 25%
Born of the world-famous Manly Beach waves, this Australian tipple is rewarding, but not for the faint of heart. Bold, bitter flavours mingle with a welcome, redeeming sweetness to produce a rounded and layered liqueur. Coffee beans are brought in from Brazil, India, and Indonesia to formulate the blend used in BlackFin, which was meticulously crafted to emphasise notes of caramel, chocolate and brown sugar.
Read our full review of Manly Spirits Co. BlackFin cold brew coffee liqueur
Sierra Milenario café tequila
Best high ABV coffee liqueur
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 35%
This bottle is a part of Sierra Milenario tequila’s premium range. Coming in at 35% ABV, this liqueur certainly packs a punch, but it is decadently moreish, drawing on notes of chocolate orange and refreshing vanilla.
Read our full review of Sierra Milenario café tequila
Kahlúa
Best classic coffee liqueur
Rating: 4/5
ABV: 20%
This is one of the most ubiquitous coffee liqueurs on the market. A Mexican mashing of sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and coffee, this is an affordable, reliable and thoroughly satisfying tipple that can be enjoyed over ice or in a white russian.
Read our full review of Kahlúa
Bepi Tosolini Expré espresso coffee liqueur
Best after dinner coffee liqueur
Rating: 5/5
ABV: 28%
Bepi Tosolini is revered for its pioneering work with the traditional grappa spirit. This coffee liqueur blends grappa with carefully selected and traditionally roasted Arabica coffee beans to produce a sophisticated digestif that will appeal to the elders of the table. Demanding a refined palate, saccharine reprieves are forgone in order to give full attention to the bitter majesty of proper coffee beans.
Read our full review of Bepi Tosolini Expré
Available from:
Master of Malt (£28.45)
The Whisky Exchange (£28.45)
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This review was last updated in December 2022. If you have any questions or suggestions for future reviews, or spot anything that has changed in price or availability, please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly.
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