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Suburban bars warming up to coffee cocktails

Whether you're looking for a little extra energy, something delicious to cap off dinner or a hot drink to warm you up after coming in from the cold, coffee cocktails can hit the spot.

"We love coffee," said Urszula Borodzinska, co-owner of The Martini Room in Elgin. "It's a nice ingredient because it has a strong aroma and you can mix it with pretty much everything. You can make it either on the sweet side or on the dark side."

The Martini Room has served an espresso martini for six years, which blends Bailey's, Kahlua and Van Gogh double espresso vodka with chocolate-covered roasted coffee beans at the bottom of the glass and espresso powder on top.

The pumpkin spice latte uses the same double espresso vodka along with a creamy pumpkin liqueur, cream, Kahlua and espresso powder. The Fire Brew, which launched at the bar's Halloween party, features Patron XO Cafe coffee liqueur, Kahlua, pumpkin liqueur and cream poured over ice and garnished with mini-marshmallows.

"It kind of reminds you of a campfire," Borodzinska said. "They look really cute. The Patron coffee liqueur mixes so well with the pumpkin liqueur. It's not too sweet."

Carlucci Restaurant and Bar in Downers Grove uses actual fire for their Carlucci Coffee, which is made on a tableside cart by lighting a wineglass of Grand Marnier on fire and sprinkling it with cinnamon to produce sparks. A slice of orange is rubbed along the rim of a mug to wet it so that it can be rimmed with cinnamon and sugar, which is then crystallized with more flame. The Grand Marnier is poured into the mug and topped with coffee and Bailey's.

"The minute somebody makes it, everybody in the dining room wants it because all you smell is the cinnamon wafting through the dining room," said Carlucci general manager Sharon Borkowicz. "It's a great production and delicious."

The showiest drink served at the restaurant, the Carlucci coffee has been on the menu for about five years but always gets more popular around the holidays.

"This is just a nice, easy after-dinner drink," Borkowicz said. "I think now that the weather is starting to get colder people are looking for warmer drinks, but something that has a little alcohol in it and is still delicious."

The Finery & Blacksmith Bar in St. Charles launched its own espresso martini in June and the drink -- made with Koval coffee liqueur, vodka, Godiva white chocolate liqueur and a shot of fresh espresso -- has become a favorite.

"We have a number of regular customers that come in just for this martini," The Finery chef Juliette Reyes said.

Reyes compared the appeal of coffee cocktails to mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

"It calms them down a little bit because of the alcohol, but they can keep going because the caffeine that's there," she said. "The bitterness that comes with coffee is a great complement to alcohol."

Naperville's Heaven on Seven's coffee cocktails bring the traditional tastes of New Orleans to the suburbs. You can get a taste of pralines, a treat made with brown sugar and pecans that's ubiquitous in Big Easy bakeries, in the Pralines & Cream, which combines praline liqueur, Kahlua, half & half, coffee and fresh whipped cream. The Creole Coffee adds RumChata to Chicory, a coffee-like drink made using a root instead of coffee beans.

"Instead of having regular coffee, you can switch it up," said Heaven on Seven manager Jesus Hernandez. "Instead of having an actual dessert, you can have coffee with some liqueur."

The Cajun restaurant isn't the only local spot serving coffee drinks from other cities. Ditka's, which has locations in Oakbrook Terrace and Arlington Heights, serves an Irish coffee inspired by the signature drink of San Francisco's Buena Vista Café. A blend of Jameson, coffee and sugar cubes, the drink is served in a six-ounce goblet instead of a traditional coffee mug and topped with ice cold whipped cream.

"It's the perfect size," said Ditka's liquor and cocktail ambassador Nicole Szwed. "Sometimes those large coffee drinks, by the time you finish with it, it's cold. With this, by the time you're done you'll still enjoy a hot cup of coffee."

Ditka's added the drink to the menu in fall 2013 and it became a staple.

"It's different and honestly it's delicious. It's popular all year long." Szwed said.

The Finery in St. Charles makes an espresso martini.
LavAzza coffee, baileys and grand marnier, orange, cinnamon sugared rim go into Carlucci's coffee cocktail
LavAzza coffee, baileys and grand marnier, orange, cinnamon sugared rim go into Carlucci's coffee cocktail
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