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Absolut Creates The Perfect Gift For Your Espresso Martini Loving Friend

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You know the friend, the one who immediately orders an espresso martini the moment you sit down at happy hour. Everyone has one. In fact, in the past decade, the espresso martini has grown 54% on menus and it shows no signs of slowing down.

This holiday season, Absolut has collaborated with viral designer Nikolas Bentel on a limited edition handbag inspired by the ultra trendy caffeinated cocktail. That’s right, there’s an espresso martini-shaped handbag hitting the market on Black Friday—selling for $199 exclusively online.

The launch comes as part of the multi-year Born to Mix campaign, where Absolut 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,” says Matt Foley, Vice President of Marketing for Absolut.

Foley shared that Absolut was drawn to Bentel as the designer for the handbag because he embodies the characteristics of the Born to Mix campaign through both his work and his own personality. “Based on the way we’ve seen him bring other designs to life, we knew he’d be inspired by Absolut as the bedrock for the espresso martini’s indulgent flavor profile and personify it through a cool nostalgic yet upbeat fashion that can get the attention of any room,” said Foley.

An artist and designer, Bentel, is based in New York City and is known for creating objects that tell a story. He specializes in blurring the line between art, design, and performance through these objects.

As a major espresso martini lover myself, I was thrilled at the chance to chat with Bentel about the inspiration behind the handbag and what it was like to create it.

Amber Love Bond: Do you partake in the espresso martini craze?

Nik Bentel: Oh yes, I absolutely take part in the espresso martini craze (no pun intended—I’m a huge fan of coffee in general, so what better way to enjoy the cocktail’s decadent flavors than with Absolut as the perfect base for its rich, smooth taste, while served in a beautiful coupe glass!

ALB: What was your favorite part about designing this handbag?

NB: Absolut’s iconic bottle silhouette let us unlock a handbag design that leaned into the cocktail itself while still being true to the brand with touches pulled through in the charms and color schemes. The Absolut Espresso Martini is the go-to cocktail to sip this holiday season, but it’s not just a drink…it’s a lifestyle…and in order to make sure the handbag matched an actual espresso martini, I spent a good amount of time mixing my own at home! I got quite good at it, especially since they are so easy to make using Absolut, Kahlua, and RISE Cold Brew.

ALB: What were some of the more important factors you took into consideration designing this handbag?

NB: When we started this process, Absolut expressed that the brand was setting out to encourage more mixing among friends this holiday, so I had fun creating a design that would get everyone talking about, drinking, and wearing the Absolut Espresso Martini. While the leather construction was by far the most important aspect of the design, through a lot of consideration and iterations, it was molded to fit the coupe glass perfectly representing Absolut’s signature serve for the cocktail.

Maybe you’ve got other espresso martini loving friends who don’t necessarily want a fancy designer handbag for the holidays—that’s fine, Absolut has a few more goodies up their sleeve. They’ve teamed up with Hauste to create the Espresso Martini Mini Soiree Guide. This one stop shop has plenty of options from holiday clothes and decor to Absolut Espresso Martini Kits, hosting essentials, and more.

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