Café Brûlot: New Orleans Coffee and an Unflamed Home Recipe

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Flavor and Tasting Notes

Orange and lemon oils lead the aroma, followed by cinnamon and clove. Brandy adds a fruit-and-spirit note; orange liqueur adds sweetness and reinforces the citrus. Coffee should still taste distinct beneath the spices.

Clove is powerful in a small cup. Whole cloves are easier to remove than ground spice, which can leave a gritty drink. Thin peel with little white pith gives a cleaner citrus impression than thick wedges. Chicory coffee is an option, but this recipe also works with ordinary brewed coffee.

Preparation and Recipe

Unflamed Home Café Brûlot

Makes four small servings; allow about 12 minutes. You need coffee-brewing equipment, a small saucepan with a lid, a fine strainer, a measuring jug and four 180–200 ml heatproof cups.

Arnaud’s published preparation includes brandy, orange liqueur, citrus and spices. The proportions and infusion method below are our home adaptation; they do not reproduce the restaurant’s flaming technique.

Ingredients

• 480 ml freshly brewed strong black coffee
• 120 ml brandy, around 40% ABV
• 30 ml orange curaçao or another orange liqueur
• 12 g granulated sugar
• 4 thin strips orange peel, each about 5 cm long, with little white pith
• 2 thin strips lemon peel, each about 5 cm long, with little white pith
• 1 small cinnamon stick, about 5 cm long
• 4 whole cloves

Method

1. Brew 480 ml black coffee. Put the coffee, 12 g sugar, orange and lemon peel, cinnamon stick and 4 cloves into a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves and the coffee is steaming, without boiling it.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat, cover and leave the spices and peel to infuse for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, warm four heatproof cups with hot water, then empty them.
3. Strain the coffee into a heatproof measuring jug, leaving the spices and peel behind. Stir in 120 ml brandy and 30 ml orange liqueur away from the heat.
4. Divide the drink equally among the four cups and serve promptly. There is no ignition or alcohol burn-off step in this home recipe.

Café Brûlot vs. Other Coffee Cocktails

Cream would soften brûlot’s citrus and spice aromas, but it is not required in this preparation. Serve it black first before deciding whether to change that balance.

Dialing in and Troubleshooting

History and Culture

Café brûlot belongs to New Orleans restaurant service as much as to the recipe glass. Arnaud’s dessert menu describes citrus, cloves, cinnamon, orange curaçao and brandy flamed for two or more diners. Its published account also describes special serving equipment that keeps the spices out of the cups.

Stories about the drink’s earliest inventor are less secure. Arnaud’s itself presents the Jean Lafitte association as a legend. The documented restaurant preparation is a firmer guide to the drink than a confident claim about who first invented it.

Caffeine, Alcohol and Sugar

Each serving contains 120 ml of the recipe’s coffee. Using Mayo Clinic’s brewed-coffee reference, that is approximately 49 mg caffeine from coffee; stronger brewing can change it. The spirits add alcohol, and both the measured sugar and orange liqueur contribute sweetness. No calorie total is given because liqueur formulations vary.

Editor's Take

Practical Detail

Common Questions

Sources and Further Reading