Review: Cazadores Café Tequila Coffee Liqueur Is Surprisingly Sweet And Smoky

Coffee and booze are a combination everyone loves, especially in the age of the espresso martini, which has grown significantly in popularity in recent years. To keep up with the demand for caffeinated booze, Cazadores Tequila created a coffee-infused tequila called Cazadores Café in July 2023, entering a sector of the tequila industry in which few brands have tried their hands.

The tequila-based coffee liqueur is fairly unique, as many coffee liqueurs on the market have bases of rum, vodka, brandy, or whiskey. Take Kahlúa, for example, which has a rum base, or Mr Black coffee liqueur, which has a vodka base. Cazadores created Café in the hopes of hopping on the tequila-based cocktails trend that has swept the bar industry in recent seasons, and to increase brand recognition by coffee-based cocktail drinkers.

Made with blanco Cazadores tequila, a Mexican blend of coffee, and agave nectar, Cazadores Café features the distinct coffee flavor you'd expect from a coffee liqueur and includes hints of vanilla for sweetness. With a 33% alcohol by volume and a lot of competition from other coffee liqueurs, is it worth the brew? I tried a bottle of Cazadores Café, and here's what I think.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Cazadores Café is a tequila-based coffee liqueur designed to be incorporated into coffee-based cocktails like espresso martinis or cold-brew Negronis, or to be enjoyed on its own, as a shot or over ice. Using the brand's blanco tequila, this coffee liqueur follows Cazadores' seven-step, zero-waste process.

First, the piña plants are harvested for agave juice, a diffusion process which, in itself, includes 24 steps. Cazadores prefers this to cooking the piñas prior to extracting the agave juice. There is a lengthy fermentation process before the liquid is infused with coffee and agave to create Cazadores Café. The brand puts a lot of care and dedication into the creation of this liqueur — even playing Mozart during the fermentation process in order to create a smoother, better-tasting tequila. (This is called the Mozart Effect, and Cazadores believes that playing Mozart while the tequila is fermenting helps to relax the yeast, aiding the flavors and alcohols in their development.)

Café joined Cazadores' lineup of tequilas, including the brand's blanco, reposado, añejo, and cristalino varieties. The company intended the coffee tequila to be a versatile spirit for any cocktail need — from daytime beverages at a boozy café to drinks at your favorite nighttime bar.

Cazadores Café has a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750-milliliter bottle, a price which may vary based on location, bottle size, and vendor. This is on the higher end of coffee liqueurs, with brands like Kahlúa and Mr Black tending to retail in the $20s for the same bottle size. Still, Cazadores Café's pricing sits within the range of other tequila-based coffee liqueurs — as compared those with other spirits as the base. Take Costa Tequila, for example; the brand's tequila-based coffee liqueur retails for $31.99.

You can order Cazadores Café from various online vendors, including ReserverBar, Sip Whiskey, Total Wine, and Cazadores' own website. It's also widely available at various retailers, including many bars and restaurants that use the coffee liqueur in their cocktails. Cazadores is also sold at various local liquors stores around the country.

Between the drink's hints of sweetness and subtle taste of coffee, Cazadores created the Café variant to be versatile enough to drink straight up, over ice, or in cocktails. Especially for tequila lovers or those who don't have time to sit and sip a full cocktail, this tequila-based coffee liqueur was made to be a quick drink that will not overwhelm your palate for the night — it's not as strong as pure tequila but still strong enough to take an edge off.

But when people hear "coffee liqueur," they cannot help but expect an espresso martini to be on the horizon. Cazadores Café would also work well in coffee-based cocktails. In fact, in 2024, the brand partnered with well-known coffee brand Café Bustelo to create an espresso martini consisting of Cazadores Café and Café Bustelo instant espresso, shaken over ice and served in a chilled martini glass. Such a cocktail is the perfect way to enjoy Cazadores Café — a classy, delicious drink that is sure to get your night started with a burst of energy.

Although espresso martinis may be popular, they certainly are not the only cocktail that Cazadores Café would work well in. Spark up your brunch with an Irish coffee, adding a splash of coffee liqueur to enhance the hot-brewed coffee and Irish whiskey — the deep, rich, and syrupy flavors of Cazadores Café complement the vanilla and maple flavors in whiskey, making it the perfect combination.

Surprisingly, the aroma of Cazadores Café is prominently of tequila rather than coffee, so if you like drinks that hide their liquor, this aspect won't be appealing. The liqueur is dark in color and has the mouthfeel of a syrup. The syrupy texture makes it thick as it goes down, but not in an unpleasant way.

This texture is echoed in Café's taste, which is saccharine. For my palate, Cazadores Café has a significant level of sweetness that's enjoyable, but for some palates, it may seem overly sweet. If you drink your coffee black, for example, this might not be your speed, but for those of us who add milk and sugar to our morning brews, the sweetness in Cazadores Café will be welcome.

Interestingly, this liqueur has a level of smokiness that works to cut the sweetness slightly and is akin to a mezcal — and if you've ever had a mezcal espresso martini, you know that it's one of the better espresso martini variants. Although Cazadores Café doesn't contain mezcal, the smokiness mirrors the effect of mezcal, and it's quite prominent — the coffee taste is definitely there, but it gets drowned out by both the sweetness and the smokiness. Overall, a glass of Cazadores Café is comparable to taking an espresso shot with a few teaspoons of sugar mixed in — it's nuanced and enjoyable for some palates but may have too many strong, competing flavors for others.

Kahlúa is the top-selling coffee liqueur on the market. Its price point varies by location — I got mine for around $32, which is on the higher end of average coffee liqueurs and more than it often retails for. However, Kahlúa earns its keep more so than Cazadores Café.

Although Kahlúa has a smooth taste, its aroma is unpleasant, comparable to licorice. The scent makes sense because of the rum base, but Cazadores definitely has a more enticing aroma all the same. However, Kahlúa tastes better than it smells, with a sweet flavor profile that isn't overpowering and a palpable coffee taste that is stronger than that of Cazadores Café. Its mouthfeel is less thick, as well, and it lacks the smokiness of Cazadores Café, though I find that disappointing because I appreciate the latter liqueur's smoky element.

Still, Kahlúa effectively balances the rum flavor with a presence of coffee and a sweetness that makes everything go down smoother, so it would be easier to sip neat or over ice than Cazadores Café. For anyone who doesn't have a specific spirit preference, Kahlúa would win the battle against Cazadores Café, which is unsurprising given the competitive market the latter has entered into.

For anyone with a preference for tequila, Cazadores Café is absolutely worth keeping on your bar cart. It is suitable for any tequila-based cocktail, especially if you like your drinks on the sweeter end. Cazadores Café also comes with a bit of a surprise — the smokiness makes it feel like an elegant liqueur — so you get luxury at a medium-range price point.

While the sweetness could be overwhelming for some palates, making this liqueur a divisive one, when paired with the right ingredients, Cazadores Café can make for a well-rounded coffee-based cocktail that anyone would enjoy. The starkness of both the saccharine and smoky flavor profiles make the liqueur versatile, able to be worked into a variety of different drinks, whether you're having a night out or a Sunday brunch.

Cazadores Café certainly gets points for its boldness, both in concept and in flavor profile, as it came into an industry saturated with coffee liqueurs. Since tequila-based coffee liqueurs are rare, however, Cazadores Café has made its mark on that sector of the industry, and it's certainly worth the brew.