Ingredients
- 2 oz Coffee
- 1 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Triple Sec
- .33 oz Lemon Juice
- fill with Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Start with the coffee, preferably freshly brewed espresso.
- Add vodka, triple sec, and lemon juice to the coffee.
- Stir well to combine.
- Top with a generous layer of whipped cream.
- Serve and enjoy your Buttsex Cocktail.
Notes
Estimated Nutrition:
Where it came from
Buttsex sits in the same novelty-named hot-coffee family as the Blow Job Shot and the Quickie. The recipe predates the name by decades. Coffee, vodka, triple sec and lemon is essentially a hot Russian Quaalude or a stripped-down Spanish Coffee, served in a mug with whipped cream on top.
It became a fixture on US college-town bar menus in the early 2000s, the kind of place that hands you a mug at last call and refuses to take you seriously. The lemon juice is the unusual move. It cuts the sweetness of the triple sec and stops the drink from drinking like a cough syrup.
It is a cold-night drink. Bonfires, snow boots, ski lodges. Not a brunch cocktail and not a tequila-bar cocktail. Hot mug or nothing.
What it tastes like
Coffee up front, orange-peel sweetness through the middle, a clean lemon snap on the finish. Less sweet than an Irish Coffee, more interesting than a vodka coffee.
Around 14 percent ABV in the mug. Two ounces of spirit in roughly four ounces of liquid. Drinks lighter than it pours because the coffee dominates the flavour.
The technique
Build directly in a coffee mug. Pour the vodka, triple sec and lemon juice. Top with two ounces of fresh hot coffee. Stir, then crown with whipped cream. Drink while still hot.
Use fresh-brewed medium-roast filter coffee or a long espresso. Skip flavoured pod coffees, the vanilla and hazelnut notes fight the triple sec.
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Ingredient Spotlight
The bottles that make or break this drink.
The lemon juice (the unusual move)
- Use
- Fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Bottled is fine.
- Skip
- Lime juice. The bitterness fights the coffee.
- Why
- Most hot-coffee cocktails skip citrus. The lemon is what stops this drinking like a cough syrup.
The vodka
- Use
- Plain neutral vodka (Smirnoff, Absolut, Stoli)
- Skip
- Flavoured vodka. The coffee already has enough going on.
- Why
- Vodka stretches the alcohol without adding flavour. The coffee and triple sec do the work.
The triple sec
- Use
- Cointreau or any orange liqueur
- Try
- Grand Marnier for brandy depth that plays well with coffee
- Why
- The orange-peel note is what separates this from every other vodka coffee.
Three Variations
Three real ways bartenders riff on this drink. Same idea, three different jackets.
The dressed-up version
- Spanish Buttsex
- Swap the triple sec for an equal pour of brandy and add a teaspoon of brown sugar dissolved in the coffee. Closer to a Spanish Coffee, more grown-up.
The Aussie version
- Iced Buttsex
- Cold-brew coffee instead of hot, served over ice in a rocks glass. Whipped cream becomes a vanilla-ice-cream scoop. Drinks like an alcoholic affogato.
The party version
- Buttsex Pitcher
- Multiply by six, build in a thermal carafe, top each mug with whipped cream and a dust of cocoa. Last-call drink for a houseparty.
What if I don't have…
Quick substitutions for when the bottle shop is closed.
Light rum or unflavoured gin works. Both push the drink slightly off the original profile but neither breaks it.
Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or any orange liqueur. Cointreau is cleaner. Grand Marnier adds brandy depth, which actually plays well with the coffee.
Bottled lemon juice. The coffee covers the difference. Half a teaspoon of orange juice can stand in if you must.
A splash of pouring cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a drizzle of condensed milk. The cream is for texture, not strict tradition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Direct answers to what people search for after Googling this drink.
What is in a Buttsex cocktail?
Two ounces of hot coffee, one ounce of vodka, one ounce of triple sec, a third of an ounce of lemon juice, and whipped cream on top. Built in a coffee mug.
How do you make a Buttsex?
Pour the vodka, triple sec and lemon juice into a coffee mug. Top with two ounces of fresh hot coffee. Stir, then crown with whipped cream. Drink while still hot.
What does a Buttsex taste like?
Coffee up front, orange-peel sweetness through the middle, a clean lemon snap on the finish. Less sweet than an Irish Coffee, more interesting than a vodka coffee.
Is the Buttsex cocktail strong?
Around 14 percent ABV in the mug. Two ounces of spirit in roughly four ounces of liquid. Drinks lighter than it pours because the coffee dominates the flavour.
Where did the Buttsex cocktail get its name?
American college-bar culture in the early 2000s. The drink existed in some form before the name arrived. The novelty-name menu is the marketing.
Can I make a Buttsex iced?
Yes. Cold-brewed coffee or cold-pressed espresso shaken with the spirits and lemon, strained over ice in a rocks glass, topped with vanilla ice cream. Drinks like an affogato with a kick.
What kind of coffee should I use?
A medium-roast filter coffee or a long espresso. Skip flavoured pod coffees, the vanilla and hazelnut notes fight the triple sec.
How many calories are in a Buttsex cocktail?
Around 220 calories per mug. The whipped cream adds about 50, the triple sec about 100, the vodka the rest. Skip the cream and it drops below 175.
What glass do you serve a Buttsex in?
A handled coffee mug or an Irish coffee glass. Anything that holds heat and gives the whipped cream a flat top to sit on.
Can I make a Buttsex without alcohol?
Yes. Skip the vodka and triple sec, sweeten the coffee with a teaspoon of orange marmalade and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Whipped cream stays. Tastes close enough at a winter brunch.
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