Although coffee was once considered a drink for only the mornings, experts are now seeing coffee migrate into the evening. As coffee becomes a 24-hour flavor, moving from morning pick-me-up to evening wind-down, coffee drinkers are looking for coffee as a comfort ritual throughout both day and night. But what’s driving the evening coffee trend, and how are brands responding to the change in coffee drinking habits?
I chatted with Tom Baker, founder of Mr. Black coffee liqueur, to learn more about the shifts in when and how people are consuming coffee and what’s driving the evening coffee trend.
About the evening coffee trend
“In the evening, coffee takes on a new role. It’s social, it’s paired with food, it’s part of conversation,” says Baker. “People are just as experimental at night as they are with their morning brew. A classic espresso martini is the gateway, sure — but then comes the fun: pairing coffee with dinner, or exploring more contemporary serves that reflect who you are as a drinker. Old Fashioned? What about a Cold Brew Old Fashioned? Negroni? Try a Café Negroni.”
For years, coffee was purely functional, ideal for getting a caffeine hit to start your day. Now, however, he says the tides have turned as coffee drinkers embrace coffee more for the flavor, craft, and the ritual.
“And if you respect coffee that much in the morning, it’s only natural that it follows you into the night. Coffee cocktails are just the evening expression of the same cultural change,” he says. Now, drinking coffee after 5 p.m. signals that the workday is over and the evening has begun. “Whether it’s in a cocktail or just part of winding down, people are choosing coffee for the moment it creates.”
A shift in coffee rituals
Coffee culture, which once saw coffee as morning fuel, has now shifted to an evening focus. When consuming coffee in the evening, it’s about slowing down, sharing a drink, or a story, says Baker. This evening coffee trend goes hand-in-hand with the rising interest in coffee cocktails.
“It’s about taste, ritual, and occasion. Coffee cocktails give you something familiar, but with a bit of theatre. They feel intentional — the kind of drink you order when you want to mark the start of the night. And let’s be honest: no one has an espresso martini and then goes home. It’s the first drink – and sometimes the last drink – and that’s what makes it special,” Baker shares.
Per Baker, other innovations in the coffee space also support the evening coffee trend, such as nitro cold brew and ready-to-drink coffee cans. Nitro cold brew gave coffee a new texture, whereas RTD coffees made evening coffee more accessible, no matter where you are.
“That experimentation created the perfect environment for Mr Black. Cold brew was already mainstream. People were curious about new formats. They wanted coffee after dark. Mr Black just joined the dots,” he says.
“Coffee after dark isn’t an Australian thing, or an American thing — it’s happening everywhere, just in different accents. In Australia, espresso martinis have been part of the culture for years. In the U.S., we’re in the middle of a coffee cocktail boom. In Europe, it’s about updating the old guard — turning café drinks and digestifs into something modern. Different expressions, same story: people want coffee at night, and they want it to taste good,” he says.
