The Ammazzacaffè
(ahm-maht-tsah-cahf-FEH)
Chapter 5 — Desserts & After-Dinner
If you’ve done Sunday right, your house smells like a triumph of four-hour simmering gravy, foil-wrapped garlic bread, and two-step chicken parm. Your guests are happy, loud, and dangerously full. If you serve them hot coffee now, they’ll say their goodbyes and go home to sleep, and we don't want them to leave yet. It’s time for the ammazzacaffè—the "coffee killer." In an Italian-American kitchen, this isn't a quick pour of store-bought Sambuca; it's a homemade stovetop espresso liqueur that simmers on the back burner all morning alongside your meatballs. It reduces into a dark, syrupy elixir that you cool, spike, chill, and pour neat. Make no apologies for the sugar or the booze. This is how a proper dinner party ends.
Ingredients
- strongly brewed espresso3 cup
- granulated white sugar3 cup
- vanilla bean1 med
- cinnamon stick1 med
- 100-proof vodka2 1/2 cup
Method
- 01
Brew the espresso and start the simmer.
Fire up the stovetop Moka pot and brew enough dark, oily espresso to yield 3 cups. Pour it into a Dutch oven over medium-low heat and stir in the sugar, the scraped vanilla bean seeds, the empty pods, and the cinnamon stick.
- 02
Let it reduce low and slow.
Once the sugar completely dissolves and the mixture reaches a gentle simmer, drop the heat to the absolute lowest setting. Let it lazily steam uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes until it reduces into a glossy, dark syrup.
- 03
Cool it down completely.
Pull the pot off the heat and let it come down to room temperature. Do not rush this—if you add the booze while the syrup is still hot, the alcohol will immediately evaporate, and you will have ruined the punchline of the night.
- 04
Spike the syrup.
Once the liquid is entirely cool to the touch, fish out the vanilla pods and the cinnamon stick. Pour in the vodka and stir vigorously to combine.
- 05
Bottle and freeze.
Pour the liqueur through a fine mesh strainer into glass swing-top bottles. Stash them in the freezer for the rest of the afternoon so they are violently cold by the time dinner ends.
- 06
Pour the coffee killer.
When the tiramisu is gone and the table is littered with crumpled napkins and empty wine glasses, bring out the frosted bottle and pour it neat into chilled shot glasses.
Notes
Respect the Moka pot.
You must use a traditional stovetop Moka pot or a real espresso machine for this extraction. Standard American drip coffee is far too watery and will ruin the syrupy texture of the final liqueur.
Using Everclear instead.
If you live in a state where 190-proof pure grain alcohol (like Everclear) is legal, you can substitute 1 1/2 cups of Everclear for the vodka to achieve an even more authentic bite.
From Cook Red Sauce at Home.