Review: Luxardo Espresso and Decaffeinated Espresso Liqueurs

The trouble with the espresso martini (for me, anyway), isn’t the alcohol. It’s the caffeine. One of these in the evening and I’m up all night because I’m at that age.

Leave it to Luxardo to suggest the obvious: How about decaffeinating your coffee-flavored liqueur? That won’t do anything for the actual espresso you put in the drink — you’ll need a decaf version of that, too — but this will at least get you partway.

We’ve never reviewed the original Luxardo Espresso liqueur, so we’re doing double duty with this post and covering it and the decaf version (developed especially for the U.S. market) together.

Both are 54 proof.

Luxardo Espresso Liqueur Review

The nose is all dark-roast coffee beans and a touch of dark chocolate, quite intense without coming across as burnt. The palate offered quite a surprise as it struck me as very fruity, a mix of wine-soaked apples, cherry, and orange, reminding me a bit of a Cafe Brulot. The coffee character certainly isn’t shy, though the fruit and a significant amount of sugar evoke a confectionary quality as it sits on the tongue. The finish is quite sweet though at least shy of being overwhelming, with a last-gasp touch of vanilla-soaked chocolate syrup lingering. A- / $25 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]

Luxardo Decaffeinated Espresso Liqueur Review

The decaf version of the above has a slightly different presentation, but it’s not a dramatic departure from the original. The nose is not as strong as the caffeinated version, with a weaker coffee character, if only slightly. The intense, near-burnt notes of the original are absent; this noses more like a healthy brew of drip dark roast. The palate diverges a bit more, namely because the fruitier qualities of the original liqueur are nearly absent this go-round. In their stead, a stronger chocolate flavor and a more evident nuttiness, evoking hazelnut and pistachio. It seems even sweeter than the standard bottling, though knowing that there’s no caffeine in the product somehow makes it feel like a healthier choice. If you prefer a more chocolate-forward liqueur vs. a fruit-forward one, it’s the way to go between these two. A- / $30

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