What is a Shakerato?
A shakerato (pronounced shake-er-ah-toe), or caffe shakerato, is an non-alcoholic drink made by vigorously shaking ice, a shot of espresso, and sugar in a cocktail shaker. It's typically served in a martini glass.
Its name is derived by adding the Italian suffix "ato" (as in Machiato) to the English verb "shake".
A shakerato is not to be confused with a campari shakerato — an alcoholic cocktail with no coffee in it at all!
Origins of the shakerato
The earliest use of the word shakerato we could find is from a 1966 Italian language publication called "Tempo presente."1 The word is used to describe an alcoholic drink.
Up until the 90s every use of the term we could find was in reference to cocktails.
A shakerato is similar to other drinks — in Greece if you order a Frappucino you'll likely get a drink very similar to a shakerato, only larger.
Ingredients
Although a shakerato looks like it's topped with cream – it's actually just made with ice, sugar, and coffee. The vigorous shaking froths the coffee and sugar giving it a foamy white top.
- 10ml of Sugar syrup (or 10g of sugar)
- A scoop of ice
- 60ml (a double shot) of Espresso
How to make a Shakerato
- Make a double shot of espresso.
- Put the ice, sugar syrup, and espresso in a cocktail shaker.
- Shake vigourously until the espresso is chilled.
- Pour into a martini glass making sure to strain the ice.