Red Eye Coffee – A Beautiful Mess

Red eye coffee, sometimes called red eye flight coffee, is simply a coffee topped with a shot of espresso. It’s easy to make at home and if you’re needing a caffeine fix, then it certainly will do the trick.

Red eye coffee was named after “red eye” flights, that go from the West Coast to New York overnight. The idea being you’d need some extra caffeine strength to stay awake for that kind of flight.

Related: Love coffee and espresso drinks? Find more in our full drinks archive.

Ingredients

• Coffee – black, any brew method
• Espresso

With only two ingredients, the quality of the coffee and espresso you use will make a huge impact on this drink.

Directions

Brew the coffee according to whatever brew method you prefer to use. You can learn how to brew coffee in a Chemex, French Press, or Aeropress.

Brew the espresso shot. Pour the espresso into the coffee and enjoy hot.

Best Home Espresso Makers

We’ve tried many espresso makers over the years, and here are our favorites at different price points and skill levels:

• Cafe Automatic Espresso Machine – My current machine. It uses any whole beans, so if you use high quality beans you’ll get high quality espresso. It makes espresso shots automatically (no barista skills required) and includes a milk frothing wand to heat and froth milk. We’ve used this machine almost every day since we got over a year ago and we love it! It comes in three colors.
• Stovetop Espresso – This is the cheapest way to make espresso at home. It’s more labor intensive and you will also need a way to grind your beans for best results. But, this is a classic method that works great when done well.
• Breville Barista Touch – We bought this for a good friend as a wedding gift once and they said they love it. It’s a higher end machine that you will need some barista skills to operate, but it’s an excellent home espresso maker.
• Nespresso Vertuo – For those who want an espresso maker that uses pods, this is my favorite. Depending what pod you use, it can make espresso or coffee.

Serving Suggestions

Maybe you’d like something sweet with this coffee drink? Try one of these: