Bartender bottles up popular cocktail created while serving in US Navy
By Doug Meehan
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BOSTON (WCVB) — It is said that luck is when preparation and opportunity meet. For a Boston bartender, that combination also resulted in a rather tasty concoction and company.
“You’re part of people’s hopes, dreams, memories and fantasies. That’s the gig,” said Glenn LeMaitre, bartender at Bricco Ristorante & Enoteca in Boston.
The North End restaurant is famous for hosting celebrities, as well as tourists and locals alike. But the biggest star at the Hanover Street Italian eatery is LeMaitre himself.
On most evenings, you will find him hard at work behind the bar. LeMaitre said by far, the most popular cocktail he serves is the espresso martini. During his 16 years at Bricco, it’s estimated that 1 million of them have passed over the one wooden bar.
“Here at the restaurant, we brew between 20 and 15 bottles of fresh espresso. We have somebody dedicated to just making espresso for our drinks,” LeMaitre said.
LeMaitre believes his version of the frothy favorite is more popular than most because the ingredients are different than most.
“It’s fresh espresso, vanilla vodka, kalua, Baileys, Frangelico and amaretto,” he said.
Equally as unique as the makeup of the cocktail is the back story of its inception. In 1989, LeMaitre was serving as a sailor on board the U.S. aircraft carrier Forestall.
After 108 days at sea and finally going ashore in the Virgin Islands for liberty, a random set of circumstances unfolded that led him to combine a variety of drinks with some espresso.
The rest is mixology history.
“This espresso martini that I currently make right now, after all these years, is that exact cocktail,” LeMaitre said.
More than 30 years later, and once again, inspiration mixes with opportunity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, LeMaitre created a bottled version of his martini called Drink That.
“So now, we got momentum. So now, a vision that is becoming a quest, which is a dream come true,” he said.
Today, 15,000 cases roll down a production line in Dedham. Behind each black and gold label is the exact same espresso martini you will find at Bricco. According to LeMaitre, it also maintains the exact same flavor profile he first created as a young sailor on leave in the Caribbean.
When asked about what his former shipmates think of his concoction and company, LeMaitre said, “They hit me up once and a while, like, ‘Really, Glenn? It’s amazing.'”
The distribution of Drink That espresso martinis extends across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Proceeds of every bottle sold go directly to the USO, a nonprofit that provides support for active military members and their families.
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