London, mid-80s: a tired supermodel, a new espresso machine, and bartender Dick Bradsell shook espresso, vodka, and liqueur into the Espresso Martini. Born at Soho Brasserie, briefly called Vodka Espresso (then Pharmaceutical Stimulant at Damien Hirst’s Pharmacy), it proved modern bartenders could mint classics—now a global coffee-cocktail icon from Melbourne to Manhattan.