Espresso laced with brandy, rum, or anís — sometimes flamed at the bar. Spanish bricklayer's morning ritual.
Folk etymology says the name comes from coraje (courage) — drunk by Spanish soldiers in 19th-century Cuba to fortify themselves before battle. The flamed Catalan version, queimada-style, became standard in Barcelona's worker bars by the 1950s, with brandy lit and dropped into hot coffee.
Mexico City's carajillo uses Licor 43 over ice with espresso — invented at Restaurante Tezka in the 1990s and now ubiquitous, with bars like Café Toscano selling 200 a day. The Catalan flamed version is rarer outside Spain because health rules now ban open flames in many bars.
Espresso brown with a thin alcohol sheen, 60 ml total in a thick-walled glass with a metal handle. Smell hits before taste: caramel, oak, anise. Hot coffee bitter into warm spirit sweet, sugar pellet melting at the bottom. Drink quick, stay warm.
Brandy (Carlos I, Veterano), rum (Ron Negrita), or anís (Anís del Mono) is heated with sugar and a lemon peel in a glass; ignited with a long match; espresso poured in to extinguish. The flame caramelises and burns off harshness — without it the spirit stays raw on the coffee.
Variations
Carajillo de ron uses dark rum (Cuban-Spanish heritage). Carajillo flameado with brandy is the Catalan ritual. Carajillo Licor 43 — built on the Cartagena-made Spanish liqueur — is the Mexico-popularised style now back on Spanish menus. In Galicia carajillo de orujo uses pomace spirit instead.
On the Palate
Where Carajillo sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
4 steps · 4 min
- 11 min
Pull 30 ml espresso into a small heatproof glass.
Watch outPull the espresso with a thick golden crema — that layer is what floats the spirit and keeps the drink from tasting flat.
- 21 min
Add 30 ml brandy, rum, or anís liqueur.
- 31 min
Optional: flame the surface with a long match if showing off.
Watch outOnly flame it a few seconds and blow it out — a long burn cooks off the aroma and leaves it bitter and boozy-flat.
- 41 min
Serve hot.
