Shaft

History

Named after private detective John Shaft, the lead character in the 1971 cult movie Shaft, hired by a Harlem gangster to rescue his daughter from the Italian mobsters who kidnapped her. The film's theme song, Theme From Shaft, was an Academy Award-winning hit in its own right.

The creation of the Shaft cocktail, circa 2000, is credited to Mark Smith whilst bartending at The Living Room restaurant in Calgary, Canada, as a built (rather than shaken) caffeinated pick-me-up shot originally consisting simply espresso with a splash of Kahlúa coffee liqueur and skimmed milk.

This cocktail became ubiquitous in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada, leading many to speculate that this is its true birthplace. Indeed, it was a Victoria resident and fellow Discerning Drinker, Sean Gordon, who first brought the Shaft to my attention in June 2019, saying, "There is a locally invented cocktail/shot called a Shaft", adding "some will sip it but it's most commonly downed in one. It's basically a grownup Jaeger-bomb substitute."

As Sean told me back in 2019, "There's variation from one bar to another". From what I can tell, it seems likely that the original Shaft was created in Calgary and, at some point during its journey to Victoria, the drink morphed with vodka added and Irish cream liqueur often replacing milk. The original espresso coffee base is also widely substituted for cold brew coffee.