Pluto Coffee
A short, dark after-dinner coffee: sambuca warmed and flamed with three roasting coffee beans, then put out with strong black coffee and finished with a spoon of cream. It tastes of anise, toasted coffee and a little caramel.
At a glance
- Coffee : sambuca
- 4:1
- Active time
- 3 min
- Total time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 glass
- Serve
- Hot
- Kit
- Heatproof glass
Ingredients
Note: Have the coffee in a jug before you light anything. It puts the flame out.
Method
-
Warm the glass and the sambuca
Rinse a thick heatproof glass with hot water and dry it. Pour in the sambuca and drop in the coffee beans. Leave it a minute so the spirit warms from the glass.
-
Light it briefly
Keep your face back and light the surface with a long match. Let it burn for ten to fifteen seconds while the beans toast.
Sambuca's flame is nearly invisible in a lit room. Assume it is burning.
Flame 10 to 15 seconds -
Coffee in, flame out
Pour the hot coffee in steadily. The flame goes out at once. Stir.
-
Cream, if you like
Float a little single cream over the back of a spoon. Serve straight away and leave the beans in the glass.
Why this works
Sambuca is an anise liqueur, flavoured mostly with anethole, the compound that gives aniseed, fennel and star anise their sweet, liquorice smell. It is around 38 to 42 percent alcohol and heavily sweetened, which makes it one of the easiest spirits to light. The brief flame does three useful things. It warms and toasts the coffee beans floating on the surface, releasing a burst of roasted aroma. It caramelises a little of the sugar at the surface. And it burns off some of the alcohol, so the anise is softer.
The coffee beans are an Italian custom. Sambuca con la mosca, with the fly, is served with three beans, said to stand for health, happiness and prosperity. Toasted in the flame, they flavour the drink as well as decorating it.
Anise and coffee are a natural pair. Anethole is sweet and cooling, and it softens coffee's bitterness in a different way from sugar, by giving the palate something aromatic to focus on. That is why Italians put sambuca in a caffè corretto as readily as grappa.
Pouring the coffee in puts the flame out by cooling and diluting the spirit, which is why the coffee must be ready before you light anything. This version keeps the flame short. Long flaming does not improve the drink and greatly increases the risk.
Variations
- Without flaming: sambuca and three beans in hot coffee. Simpler, slightly sharper.
- Caffè corretto alla sambuca: a splash of sambuca in an espresso. See caffè corretto.
- Black sambuca: a dark, liquorice-heavy sambuca for a darker drink.
- With whipped cream: a thick float of lightly whipped cream, as for an Irish coffee.
This recipe sets spirit alight. Sambuca burns with a nearly invisible flame, so assume it is lit. Use a thick heatproof glass, keep your face and hair back, keep the bottle capped and away, never pour from the bottle near a flame, and never lift or carry the glass while it is burning. Not for children, drivers, or anyone avoiding alcohol.
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Questions
What is in Pluto coffee?
This version is sambuca briefly flamed with three coffee beans, then strong black coffee poured in to put out the flame, with an optional float of cream.
Why are there three coffee beans in sambuca?
It is an Italian custom called con la mosca, with the fly. The three beans are said to stand for health, happiness and prosperity.
Is it safe to flame sambuca?
With care. Its flame is nearly invisible, so keep the time short, use a heatproof glass, keep the bottle away, and have the coffee ready to put it out.
Can I make it without flaming?
Yes. Add the sambuca and beans to hot coffee. You lose the toasted bean aroma but keep the anise.