Let’s be honest. That espresso martini you’ve been ordering – the one made with Kahlúa, pre-ground grocery store coffee, and whatever well vodka the bartender grabbed without looking – it’s fine. It’s perfectly fine. And “perfectly fine” is the most damning thing you can say about a drink ;) I love espresso martinis the most at BestKeptMTL and I’m here to let you know, I’ve discovered a better way of making espresso martinis. A more “straight from the source” way. Less dilluted, less dissapointing.
Enter Chambre Noire. And yes, everything changes now.
What Is Chambre Noire And Why Haven’t You Heard Of It Yet
Admit it, your bottle of Tia Maria is suddenly embarassing AF.
Chambre Noire is a cold-infused coffee vodka made by Maison Le Chêne, a family-owned Montreal micro-distillery run by father-son duo Simon and Sacha Le Chêne. Simon has 35 years of distilling experience. Sacha has the vision and the audacity to match. Together they’ve made something that didn’t exist before — a super-premium, caffeinated vodka that walks the razor’s edge between spirit and obsession.
Four ingredients. Nicaraguan coffee beans, Quebec-made vodka, local maple syrup, and Quebec spring water. That’s it. No essences. No coloring. No artificial flavoring. No shortcuts. No apologies.
The coffee comes from a single origin, one family, one farm in Nicaragua, cold-infused directly into the vodka by macerating the beans. This is not a syrup situation. This is not a flavored vodka situation. The coffee is literally IN the vodka, extracted cold to preserve every nuanced note without the bitterness that heat brings. The result is something dry, bold, and deeply aromatic with more spirit than liqueur and infinitely more interesting than either.
Why Your Espresso Martini Has Been Letting You Down
The espresso martini industrial complex has gotten lazy. Overly sweet liqueurs masking mediocre spirits, watered-down espresso shots, and a cloud of foam that disappears before the glass even hits the table. The cocktail was iconic once. Then everyone started making it badly and calling it a menu staple.
Chambre Noire doesn’t fix the espresso martini. It reinvents it. Shake it over ice and you get a perfect foam every single time, no espresso shot required, no coffee liqueur needed, no simple syrup math to do at 11pm. The built-in maple rounds the edges without sweetening the deal. It’s sophisticated. It’s balanced. It has the kind of depth that makes you stop mid-sip and reconsider your entire relationship with coffee-based cocktails.
How To Actually Drink It
Here’s where Chambre Noire earns serious bonus points – versatility that doesn’t compromise identity. Check out Noire-groni, black russians, café-léche cocktail recipes on their site under COCKTAILS.
Two Ways to Drink It
Option 1
Use your favourite espresso martini recipe — just swap boring vodka for Chambre Noire.
Option 2 — The Dry Noire-Tini
Let Chambre Noire do all the work.
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz Chambre Noire
- 1 oz Maple or Simple Syrup (optional)
How to Make It
- Fill a shaker with ice. Add Chambre Noire and shake vigorously for 20–30 seconds. Pour as-is for sharp and dry, or add syrup for a smoother finish.
- Strain into a chilled martini glass.
- Garnish with 3 coffee beans.
About the Mousse
Chambre Noire uses real coffee beans, which leave a natural sediment in every bottle. Shake it and that sediment emulsifies into a perfect crema — every single time. No tricks. Just real coffee.
The Details That Matter To People Who Care About Details
Priced at around $45 and available at the SAQ both online and in-store, Chambre Noire sits firmly in the accessible luxury category, premium enough to feel like a treat, reasonable enough to justify buying two. The bottle itself is elegantly designed with the kind of label that photographs well, gifts beautifully, and sits on your shelf like a personality statement.
It’s currently available in Quebec with Ontario on the horizon, which means right now you’re either in the know or you’re not. Montreal has a history of discovering things first, and this is one worth being first about.
The Bottom Line
Nothing artificial. Not even the marketing.
Chambre Noire is what happens when a family with decades of distilling expertise decides to make exactly one thing and make it perfectly. Four ingredients. One obsession. Zero compromises.
It’s the only cold-infused coffee vodka on the Canadian market. It’s the only caffeinated vodka in its category. It’s the only espresso martini solution that doesn’t require a shot machine, a liqueur shelf, or a bartender who actually knows what they’re doing.
You’ve been doing espresso martinis wrong. Now you have no excuse.
Find Chambre Noire at the SAQ in-store and online, and at maisonlechene.com for cocktail recipes and more.
