Warm and Fuzzy

• Hot specialty drinks with coffee will warm you up from the inside-out. The Cossack coffee is a variation on a white Russian that throws some cinnamon into the mix -- pour 1 part each cinnamon- and coffee-flavored vodkas into an Irish coffee mug, then top with hot coffee and whipped cream. The afternoon cocktail blends the flavor of coffee with hints of whiskey and hazelnut -- mix 2 parts each coffee liqueur and Irish cream and 3 parts hazelnut liqueur in an Irish coffee mug, then top with coffee and a splash of half-and-half.

Manic Martinis

• Mix coffee into martinis for specialty cocktails with a little class as well as a kick. The Irish martini gets its name from two of its ingredients: Irish cream and Irish whiskey. Chill 4 parts Irish cream, 2 parts Irish whiskey and 3 parts iced double-strength coffee in a cocktail shaker, then strain into a ice-cold martini glass. The cleverly named pear way to heaven mixes coffee with a touch of fruit; chill 5 parts pear vodka, 2 parts each iced coffee and condensed milk and 1 part amaretto liqueur, then strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a slice of pear.

Caffeinated and Creamy

• A number of blended and frozen specialty cocktails also showcase coffee as a central ingredient and flavor. The Anatole coffee is served with a little bit of class in a white wine glass -- blend 1 part each Cognac, coffee liqueur and hazelnut liqueur and 12 parts iced coffee with ice, then pour the blended drink into a chilled wine glass and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Another specialty cocktail that's more like a milkshake than a mixed drink is the Irish ice -- blend 1 part each of Irish cream and iced coffee with 2 medium scoops of coffee ice cream for every 1 ounce of iced coffee.

Swift Shots

• Coffee also works well as an ingredient in a variety of specialty shooters. One classy shot is the hot shot, which mixes hot coffee with Galliano, an Italian herbal liqueur -- pour 1 part chilled Galliano into a shot glass, then top it with 1 part hot coffee and whipped cream. Another shot, the inspiration shot, gets its name from the inspired pairing of coffee and spiced rum -- top 1 part spiced rum with 1 part coffee and whipped cream. One more simple shot is the chip shot, which is 1 part each coffee and vanilla liqueurs topped with hot coffee and whipped cream.