Industry veterans introduce innovative RTD canned Espresso Martini
Las Vegas-based entrepreneurs Andy Hersch and R.J. Demman are set to unveil Spark Plug Espresso Martini, a Ready-to-Serve (RTD) Canned Espresso Martini that fuses the vibrancy of Las Vegas with convenience and craftsmanship. This innovative product redefines cocktail experiences for enthusiasts, combining modern ease with traditional mixology.
Born from the world capital of entertainment Las Vegas, Spark Plug Espresso Martini embodies the city’s essence. What sets this beverage apart is its unique ability to naturally produce foam / crema upon pouring, providing the visual appeal of hand-crafted cocktails. This innovation mirrors the founders’ intent to blend age-old cocktail practices with contemporary convenience.
“We are so passionate about this drink, and everyone we have introduced to it has loved it as well,” commented Hersch. “Espresso Martini’s / Spark Plugs are a foundation of Las Vegas nightlife, so there are no better judges than here to show we got the formula right. And the answer has been five stars from all of our taste testers! We look forward to seeing how much the world enjoys Spark Plug.”
Drawing on their extensive industry experience in hospitality management and operations, Andy Hersch and R.J. Demman saw a real void that Spark Plug could fill in an exciting and enjoyable way. Their shared vision bridges the gap between craftsmanship and the lifestyle demands of our age resulting in a distinct and compelling drink that’s ready to go.
Spark Plug Espresso Martini blend is carefully crafted using a selection of premium ingredients, resulting in a rich coffee base that captures the authentic flavors of an Espresso Martini. This commitment to quality ensures that everyone can deliver an experience equal to or better than a handcrafted cocktail.
In a world where convenience is paramount, Spark Plug delivers. Packaged in an easily transportable can, the product promises to bring the same level of luxury and crema to on-the-go consumers, eliminating the need for intricate mixology skills.
Now pouring across Las Vegas and shipping to 44 states, Spark Plug Espresso Martini keeps the energy building. The founders’ dedication to harmonizing convenience with craftsmanship sets the stage for a transformative addition to the RTD market. Spark Plug aspires to become a front-runner, capturing the essence of Las Vegas in each sip and redefining the boundaries of ready-to-drink indulgence.
For further information or media inquiries, please contact info@drinksparkplug.com
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Why the espresso martini became Las Vegas’s signature cocktail
The espresso martini was invented in London in the 1980s, but it found its truest home in Las Vegas. There is a reason the drink lives on nearly every high-end cocktail menu on the Strip: it is the one cocktail engineered to do two jobs at once. It reads as dessert and it reads as fuel. In a city built on late nights and second winds, a cold, sweet, coffee-forward drink that carries both alcohol and caffeine is less a novelty than a survival tool. It is the drink you order at eleven when the table wants to keep going until three.
Spark Plug was born inside that world. Its founders came out of Las Vegas hospitality, where they watched bartenders shake hundreds of espresso martinis a night, each one requiring fresh-pulled espresso, a careful pour, and the patience to build a proper foam. A great one is a genuinely difficult drink to make well and nearly impossible to make quickly. That gap — between how much people love the cocktail and how hard it is to serve at volume — is exactly the space Spark Plug was designed to close.
What actually goes into the can
The recipe is deliberately short, and that is the point. Spark Plug is built from filtered water, six-times-distilled vodka, real Arabica coffee, cane sugar, Madagascar vanilla, and natural flavors — nothing else. There are no synthetic sweeteners hiding in the finish, which is where most canned coffee cocktails give themselves away with a flat, chemical aftertaste. The Arabica base brings the rounded, low-acid coffee character you want in a dessert cocktail rather than the sharp, over-roasted note of cheaper robusta blends. Madagascar vanilla does the quiet work in the background, softening the coffee’s edges and lengthening the finish.
The drink lands at 20% ABV, or 40 proof — roughly the strength of a bar-poured espresso martini rather than a watered-down seltzer. Each 200ml can carries about 80 to 100 milligrams of caffeine, comparable to a strong single-origin cup of coffee, sourced from the real Arabica rather than added stimulants. It is gluten-free and dairy-free, and the numbers stay honest: 150 calories, zero grams of fat, and 8 grams of sugar per 3.5-ounce serving, with two servings in a can. Cane sugar, not corn syrup, does the sweetening, which keeps the sugar level modest for a drink this indulgent.
The nitrogen trick behind the crema
The signature of a hand-shaken espresso martini is the crema — that pale, tight cap of foam that floats three coffee beans and tells you the bartender did the work. Almost every canned attempt at the drink fails here, because the foam collapses the moment it hits the glass. Spark Plug solves this the way a good stout does: with nitrogen rather than carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen bubbles are far smaller than CO2 bubbles, and they come out of solution slowly, which produces the cascading, cream-textured head you see on a nitro cold brew instead of the aggressive fizz of a soda. Because the drink is nitro-infused rather than carbonated, it pours smooth on the palate — no prickle, no soda-like bite — and the crema forms on its own and holds. Pour it cold over ice and you get a real, persistent layer of foam that looks like it came off a shaker tin, no barware or technique required.
How to serve it
Spark Plug rewards a little care in the pour without demanding any skill. Chill the can hard first — at least a few hours in the fridge, or twenty minutes in an ice bath if you forgot. Cold is what makes the crema behave and what keeps the coffee tasting clean rather than muddy. From there you have two moves. Poured neat into a chilled coupe or martini glass, it drinks closest to the classic: concentrated, silky, dressed up for a toast. Poured with height over a glass of fresh ice, it opens into something longer and more sessionable, the foam building as it falls — the better choice for a warm patio or a slow evening.
Pour tall and steady to wake up the nitrogen and let the head form. If you want the full ritual, float three coffee beans on top; the traditional garnish is said to represent health, wealth, and happiness. Serve it as the after-dinner course in place of coffee and dessert both, or bring it out as a mid-evening reset when a room is starting to fade — the caffeine is the reason espresso martinis are the last drink standing at any dinner party.
What to pair it with
Because it sits squarely between coffee and dessert, Spark Plug pairs the way both do. It is at its best against dark chocolate, where the bitterness of the cocoa meets the bitterness of the coffee and both round out. It flatters anything with caramel, toffee, or brown butter, and it makes a genuinely good partner for a cheese board weighted toward salt — aged gouda, a sharp cheddar, or salted nuts play off the sweetness the way they would against a tawny port. Skip the fruit-forward desserts, which fight the coffee, and lean into the roasted, the salted, and the rich.
Recognized by the industry
The formula has held up in front of judges who taste RTDs for a living. Spark Plug took Best in Show for RTD at the 2024 TAG Global Spirits Awards, Gold at The Canned Challenge 2024, Double Gold at the PR%F Awards, Gold at the 2024 San Diego Spirits Festival, and Gold again at the 2025 Las Vegas Global Spirit Awards, and it was featured in BevNet’s 2024 RTD Guide. For a category crowded with hard seltzers and sugary canned cocktails, that run of awards points at the same thing the founders bet on: get the coffee, the crema, and the balance right, and the drink speaks for itself.
Where to find it
Spark Plug pours at a roster of premier Las Vegas venues — LIV and LIV Beach, Hakkasan, OMNIA, Caesars Palace, and Marquee among them — so you can order one in the rooms it was designed for. Off the Strip, cans ship direct to 44 states through licensed retailers, arriving in 200ml four-packs (a two-pack minimum per order, with an adult signature and ID required on delivery). A four-pack runs $19.99, and the Party Pack bundles four of them — sixteen cans — for $71.96. Retail four-packs are also stocked on shelves in California, Nevada, New York, and New Jersey. However it reaches you, the promise is the same one the founders started with: the taste of a Las Vegas night, waiting in the can.