Espresso martinis are so hot right now. Espresso martinis. The “adult vodka Red Bull” as it has often been called is believed to trace its origins back to Fred’s Club in the ‘80s where a model asked for a drink that would “wake me up and fuck me up at the same time.” The drink lost a bit of favor over the years but has made a strong comeback in the 2020s, thanks to its adoption by the drinking-age Gen Z’ers of the world. Now you can find espresso martinis of all manner. Every bar has a riff on one (some it’s even their whole deal), and hell, you can get them in a can nowadays.
And now, they even come in handbag form. That’s right, Absolut Vodka has teamed up with designer Nikolas Bentel to create a purse that looks like an actual espresso martini.
Brought to our attention by Forbes, a classy publication befitting such a classy drink and drink-based sartorial accoutrement, the handbag is part purse, part puzzle, and all espresso martini. The structure of the 8” x 4” x 4” bag comes from a coupe glass-like design with a chain attached to the rim and stem. Inside the bowl of the glassware sit a brown and cream pouch adorned with three coffee beans atop it; that’s the actual purse part, which can be removed from the glass to store your money, credit cards, and ID—things you’d need to buy an actual espresso martini.
Scheduled to be released on Black Friday for a cool $199, the espresso martini handbag is part of Absolut’s multi-year Born to Mix campaign, which “aims to inspire those 21+ who are open-minded, optimistic, and driven by curiosity to come together to mix ideas (and obviously, drinks) with the hopes of blending backgrounds and personalities.”
“In an effort to spotlight the espresso martini, the handbag demonstrates the power of mixing different people, perspectives, and cocktails, that harness Absolut’s exclusive, yet inclusive world of mingling and making authentic connections with friends and family,” stated Absolut’s Vice President of Marketing Matt Foley, presumably with a straight face.
The espresso martini handbag officially launches on November 25th at 10:00am EST on Nikolas Bentel’s official website. A total of 200 of these bad boys will be made, so if you’re a handbag-carrying espresso martini aficionado, you may want to throw one back around 9:30am to make sure you are alert enough (and maybe just a little loosey goosey) to drop two bills on this much-needed accessory.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
