Coffee cocktails perfect at day's end

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As a child, I would awaken to the aroma of my father's morning brew, and I have vivid recol

As a child, I would awaken to the aroma of my father's morning brew, and I have vivid recollections of my grandfather drinking coffee with every meal. Yet I was slow to catch the bug. Mainly because I was forbidden to have the drink until I was an adult — something about stunting my growth or causing blindness or making my ears stick out.

I don't remember the exact reason my mother gave, but I'm from the South, where we often eschew scientific fact for good old hand-me-down wisdom. It instilled enough fear that I didn't have my first taste of coffee until I was 20.

In college I began to explore the world of coffee, trying to catch up on what I'd been missing. It was intoxicating — the aromas, the flavors. I got hooked, but I didn't use coffee to start my day. Rather, I found it a better way to end the day. Maybe it was all of those "Leave It to Beaver" re-runs I watched — Ward Cleaver sitting in the living room after dinner, still in his suit, enjoying "un cafe." It was all so elegant and comforting — the perfect nightcap.

The problem, though, is that I also enjoy ending the evening with a few other things, namely desserts and digestifs. Oh, the torture.

If only there was a way to combine the three. So I went to several of my favorite Los Angeles mixologists with a challenge: Make me a coffee-flavored cocktail with the ex- hilarating potency of a digestif and enough sugar to satisfy my sweet tooth. The results were enlightening.

To my surprise, each mixologist crafted a cold cocktail — a newer trend, but one that I hope sticks around for a while. The cool temperature served to cleanse the palate and ensure that the drink wouldn't be too cloying.

Jaren Singh, bartender at Michael Mina's Stonehill Tavern in Dana Point, prepared a cocktail that was 3 parts coffee, 2 parts Nocino della Cristina, and 1 part cream — all shaken over ice and strained into a martini glass.

It was delightful. Nocino is a traditional Italian walnut liqueur made with unripe walnuts, brandy or grappa, sugar and spices. This brand uses grape brandy from the Napa Valley, making it a particularly pleasing digestif.

Brandon Bossert, manager and lead bartender at Dominick's in West Hollywood, mixes favorites like sambuca and Tia Maria with heavy cream to create his caffe Romano. It's a satisfying and refreshing liquid dessert.