One of our favourite drinks is having its moment in the sun this summer, as London’s first espresso martini festival touches down in the capital.

This decadent and darkly delicious drink will be celebrated in an event run by Australian coffee liquor maestros, Mr Black. 

The boozy caffeine experts have teamed up with DrinkUp.London for next month’s three-day extravaganza, which will run from 10 to 12 August.

The festival will see fifty of London’s most illustrations cocktail haunts flaunt their martini-mixing skills with a hefty sidekick of coffee.

Guests at the fiesta – which costs £10 a pop for tickets – get to embark on an unofficial road trip around these fine institutions, as they hunt down their favourite take on the classic espresso martini.

Each cocktail made by the participating bars will cost £5, but this still seems fairly reasonable given the exorbitant rate for drinks in the capital’s leading venues. 

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Plus, you get to compare and contrast which martini is made with the most finesse; always a fun task.

Other unique coffee-based cocktails will also be on the menu, for those who want their days to go with a zing.

An espresso martini is a suave, punchy mix of vodka, coffee liquor (such as Kahlua), sugar syrup and espresso. It’s both creamy and rich, and is the brainchild of fabled London bartender Dick Bradsell.

Legend has it that a world-famous British model – whose name has never been revealed - sashayed up to him in the late 1980s, and demanded a drink that would “wake me up and f**k me up”.

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A classic was quickly born, known first as the vodka espresso and then the more medical-sounding “pharmaceutical stimulant”.

But whatever you choose to call it, it sure delivers a hit. 

Get your fix at London’s first espresso martini festival by booking tickets right here.

Images: DrinkUp.London, iStock