Revolver
The Revolver is 60ml of bourbon, 15ml of coffee liqueur and two dashes of orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with an orange twist flamed over the surface and dropped in. About 2.7 UK units. Jon Santer created it in 2004 while running the bar at Bruno’s, a jazz club in San Francisco’s Mission District. He built it on Bulleit bourbon, reached for Tia Maria, and borrowed the flamed orange twist from Dale DeGroff. The name plays on Bulleit and on the gun-smoke smell of the flame, and nods to the Beatles album of 1966. In the glass it is a coffee Manhattan. The liqueur darkens the bourbon’s toffee, and the bitters and the burnt orange oil keep the finish from turning to dessert.
Glassware: Coupe Glass
Garnish: Orange twist
Ingredients
60ml
At 40% ABV or more. High-rye if you have it: Santer built the drink on Bulleit, and the rye’s pepper keeps the coffee liqueur’s sweetness in check.
15ml
At around 20% ABV; Santer used Tia Maria. Fifteen millilitres darkens the bourbon without turning the drink into dessert, and real roast bitterness matters more than the brand.
2 dashes
Two dashes. They hold up the finish against the liqueur’s sugar and tie the drink to the flamed orange on top.
Instructions
Chill a coupe.
Add the bourbon, coffee liqueur and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with cubed ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled coupe.
Hold a lit match between an orange twist and the drink, squeeze the oils through the flame, then drop the twist in.
Our version
Jon Santer’s 2004 recipe, as he gave it to Punch: two ounces of bourbon, half an ounce of coffee liqueur, two dashes of orange bitters and a flamed orange twist. Ours is the same at 60ml and 15ml; the 20 to 30 second stir and the coupe are ours.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Keep the coffee liqueur at 15ml. Take it to 20 and the glass becomes a coffee drink with whiskey in it, sweeter and heavier. Choose a liqueur with real roast bitterness behind the sugar. Give it 20 to 30 seconds on the spoon. The drink should be properly cold and diluted before the coffee turns assertive. Hold the lit match between the peel and the glass, over the drink, and squeeze firmly so the oils pass through the flame and land on the surface. Keep your face and anything flammable well back.
Behind the Revolver
Flavour Profile
The Origin
Jon Santer created the Revolver in 2004 at Bruno’s, a jazz club in San Francisco’s Mission District, where he was running the bar. He built it on Bulleit bourbon and paired it with Tia Maria, having first considered chocolate, a close neighbour of coffee.
The flamed orange twist he took from Dale DeGroff. The drink became known at Bourbon & Branch, where Santer worked from its opening in 2006, and travelled on through the Milk & Honey family of bars.
Coffee Liqueur, Rationed
Fifteen millilitres is the whole dose. The liqueur darkens the bourbon’s toffee and stops there.
That makes the bottle matter more than the measure suggests. A liqueur with real roast character has something to say at 15ml; a syrupy one registers only as sweetness, and the temptation is then to pour more. The orange bitters are the other half of the balance, holding the finish up where the sugar would close it down.
The Flamed Twist
Squeeze an orange coin through a lit match over the surface and the oils catch as they pass, landing toasted, bitter-edged and faintly smoky.
Coffee and burnt orange sit naturally together, which is why the flame suits this drink. Cut a wide coin with little pith, hold it skin towards the glass with the match in between, and squeeze firmly so the oils pass through the flame rather than round it.
Bourbon, High-Rye or Wheated
High-rye bourbon is the reading the drink was built on. The rye’s pepper runs against the liqueur’s sweetness and keeps the finish dry.
A wheated bourbon makes a gentler version, rounder and nearer dessert. Straight rye goes the other way, its spice cutting across the coffee rather than framing it.
Beside the Manhattan and the Black Russian
The Revolver beside our Manhattan, Black Russian and Espresso Martini
Spirit
- Revolver
- 60ml bourbon
- Manhattan
- 50ml rye
- Black Russian
- 50ml vodka
- Espresso Martini
- 50ml vodka
Modifier
- Revolver
- 15ml coffee liqueur
- Manhattan
- 20ml sweet vermouth
- Black Russian
- 20ml coffee liqueur
- Espresso Martini
- 30ml Kahlúa, 30ml espresso, 10ml sugar syrup
Bitters
- Revolver
- Two dashes orange
- Manhattan
- One dash Angostura
- Black Russian
- None
- Espresso Martini
- None
Method
- Revolver
- Stirred, served up
- Manhattan
- Stirred, served up
- Black Russian
- Built over ice
- Espresso Martini
- Shaken hard
UK units
- Revolver
- About 2.7
- Manhattan
- About 2.3
- Black Russian
- About 2.4
- Espresso Martini
- About 2.6
| Element | Revolver | Manhattan | Black Russian | Espresso Martini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | 60ml bourbon | 50ml rye | 50ml vodka | 50ml vodka |
| Modifier | 15ml coffee liqueur | 20ml sweet vermouth | 20ml coffee liqueur | 30ml Kahlúa, 30ml espresso, 10ml sugar syrup |
| Bitters | Two dashes orange | One dash Angostura | None | None |
| Method | Stirred, served up | Stirred, served up | Built over ice | Shaken hard |
| UK units | About 2.7 | About 2.3 | About 2.4 | About 2.6 |
In structure the Revolver is a Manhattan with coffee liqueur in the vermouth’s seat. The Black Russian uses coffee liqueur the same way over vodka and comes out sweeter, because vodka gives the liqueur nothing to push against. The Espresso Martini adds real coffee and a shake, and makes a livelier, foamier drink.
How to Serve It
Up, cold and late, in a chilled coupe with no ice. It suits the guest who once ordered Espresso Martinis and now drinks whiskey.
Stirred, never shaken: the silky texture is half of what separates it from the Espresso Martini. Drop the twist in after the flame so the toasted oils stay on the surface, where the nose meets them first.
For rye and sweet vermouth, make a Manhattan; for coffee liqueur over vodka, a Black Russian.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Whiskey (Bourbon)Bourbon is an American whiskey whose mash is at least 51% corn, matured in fresh charred oak barrels and bottled at 40% ABV or higher, the figure our recipes use. The fresh charred wood gives it its vanilla, caramel and colour, and the corn gives a rounder, sweeter spirit than rye. It is the base of 26 of our recipes, more than any other whiskey.
Master the Techniques
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Revolver?
Where does the name Revolver come from?
Is it just a whiskey Espresso Martini?
Do I have to flame the twist?
What bourbon suits it best?
Which coffee liqueur should I use?
How strong is a Revolver?
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Espresso Martini
An Espresso Martini is 50ml of vodka, 30ml of Kahlúa, 10ml of sugar syrup and one freshly pulled espresso of about 30ml, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds and double strained into a chilled martini glass, with three coffee beans laid on the foam. About 2.5 UK units, and the caffeine of a single shot. Dick Bradsell is usually credited with it, at the Soho Brasserie in London around 1983. His account was of a model who asked for a drink to wake her up and then mess her up; he never said who she was. The measures are the IBA’s. Vodka gives strength and cold without flavour, so the coffee leads. The foam comes from the crema of a shot pulled moments before the shake, which is why the espresso goes in last.
Old Fashioned
An Old Fashioned is 45ml of bourbon, one sugar cube, two dashes of Angostura bitters and a few dashes of water. The sugar and bitters are muddled in a rocks glass until the cube dissolves, then ice goes in, the bourbon goes over it and the drink is stirred for 15 to 20 seconds. Orange peel is expressed over the top. About 1.9 UK units. Those are the IBA’s ingredients, which allow rye in place of bourbon. Only the sugar and bitters are muddled: no orange flesh, no cherry. The recipe predates the name. When a newspaper in Hudson, New York, defined the cocktail in 1806, it described spirits, sugar, water and bitters, a bittered sling. The name came later in the century, as bartenders added liqueurs to the format and drinkers who wanted it plain are said to have asked for one made the old-fashioned way.
Black Manhattan
A Black Manhattan is 50ml of rye whiskey, 20ml of Averna and a dash each of Angostura and orange bitters, stirred over ice for 20 to 30 seconds and strained into a chilled coupe, with a cocktail cherry. About 2.6 UK units. It keeps the Manhattan’s five parts whiskey to two of the sweet partner and replaces all of the vermouth with amaro. Todd Smith is credited with it, in San Francisco around 2005. One account places it at Cortez, a restaurant where he was working before he opened Bourbon & Branch in 2006, and gives his first version as bourbon, a smaller measure of Averna and coffee-cherry bitters he made himself. The rye, Angostura and orange bitters came later. Averna is a Sicilian amaro at 29% ABV, sweet first and bitter after, with orange peel and a note close to cola. In the vermouth’s place it makes a darker, denser drink with a longer bitter finish.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026