Nothing says Valentine’s Day more than Kahlua. Okay, sure, there are flowers, chocolate, hearts, chocolate hearts, teddy bears, and all sorts of things designed to woo your special someone into bed on Valentine’s Day.  But when I think of Valentine’s Day and cocktails, I think of Kahlua.

But then I do a search on the fount of knowledge, and I don’t see a lot of drinks made with Kahlua. This coffee liqueur has gone quite out of favor, it seems. There’s the White Russian, of course, thanks to the Dude, who abides, and there’s its simpler cousin, the Black Russian. But besides that, you don’t see a lot of Kahlua. I can’t remember the last time I was at a cocktail bar and ordered a drink with Kahlua.

The fact is that it’s hard to mix with and a lot of it goes a long way.

But something about it screams Valentine’s Day to me, so I had to make a Valentine’s Day drink with it.

It’s either that or creme de cacao, and that’s even harder to use, in my opinion.

The other great thing about Kahlua is that we all have a bottle lying around somewhere. I’m reminded of the Weird Al video “Fat” where the guy asks Weird Al if he wants a piece of pizza, and the fat guy says, “I think I got an extra piece around here somewhere.” (Skip to 0:22 in the video). And he pulls a piece of pizza out of his pocket. That Weird Al, he genius.

So unless you’re my uncle who must not have touched his liquors in years–his bottle of Kahlua turned to mush–your bottle of Kahlua is probably just fine. And ripe for Valentine’s Day!

Here, I went for the peppermint patty combo: Fernet and Kahlua.

The problem is that I don’t have a name for it yet. Some have suggested the Sexy Mexican (because of the ingredients, people!). Others have suggested the Night is for Lovers. Still others want the Chocotini.

But anything with “tini” at the end that doesn’t start with “mar” is a non-starter in my book.

That person will not be invited back to Stay at Home Cocktails, rest assured. (Just kidding, my beautiful wife!)

The Recipe

To make the Sexy Lover Mexi-tini, combine with ice:

• 1 1/2 oz Patron silver
• 3/4 oz Kahlua
• 1/2 oz Fernet Branca

stir well, and strain into a chilled coupe (or Martini glass!).

Garnish with a mint sprig.

Now some people have complained that I use Fernet Branca too much. Like so many other cocktail snobs, I am much too fascinated by this most disgusting of imbibements.

Pshaw, I say! I have only used Fernet a couple times. There’s the Fernando’s Cocktail from Employee’s Only, the Fashionista cocktail, and the Hanky Panky. Oh, and the Newark Cocktail from PDT.

But that’s it!

Four cocktails in as many years.

And I don’t really even like the stuff. I got it from Mongoose Versus Cobra one time because they serve shots of it on draft. But that was it. I’m not drinking it straight at home. Not when I can mix it with Kahlua and Patron and get something so much better.

Ah, the love of stay at home cocktails.

Note: the photo above was taken by my daughter. She’s awesome. You can find her blog at Hot Town, Cool Girl.