How coffee liqueur Mr. Black rode the espresso martini wave

The espresso martini has been having a moment for the last few years.

According to NIQ CGA’s cocktail tracker, in 2023, orders for espresso martinis doubled in velocity and dethroned the Long Island Iced Tea as the sixth most popular cocktail. Riding this wave is the coffee liqueur Mr. Black, which, since its U.S. launch in 2017, has driven one-third of the total retail sales growth in the coffee liqueur category.

Mr. Black launched in Australia but has become an international phenomenon; it was acquired by Diageo in 2022. According to the brand's co-founder and now-creative director, Tom Baker, though the espresso martini wasn't popular when it launched, he had a feeling a well-crafted coffee-based liqueur would be a global hit.

"I just had this sense that every bar in the world would one day want to buy this product from us," he said on the Modern Retail Podcast. "And that was all the strategy that went into it."

There were a few elements that led to Mr. Black's growth. For one, it became a key ingredient in a popular cocktail. Additionally, Baker knew that the brand's success was predicated on key placements in New York City.

"It was sort of the hub of cocktail culture," he said. "All roads kind of lead there, especially in liquor." So, Baker and a friend went door to door to get some of the best bars and liquor stores to sell the product. From there, the company made sure to keep the right celebrities and influencers abreast with its growth.

One thing led to another, and Mr. Black was able to reach the big time.

"All of a sudden, without you knowing, it's [Stephen] Colbert and [Hugh] Jackman drinking a Mr. Black Espresso Martini," he said. "So it definitely is equal parts an extraordinary amount of hard work and an extraordinary amount of luck."