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Frank Conrad of Cape May built a better espresso martini. You can buy it in a can.

Conrad used Cuban beans he’d sourced in Key West and a recipe he perfected in Cape May. Available now in liquor stores and bars across the Jersey Shore.

Frank Conrad of Cape May has always been known for his espresso martinis. Now he is manufacturing a version in a can, including a limoncello variety.
Frank Conrad of Cape May has always been known for his espresso martinis. Now he is manufacturing a version in a can, including a limoncello variety.Read moreCourtesy Let's Be Frank @kgio.photo

Frank Conrad of Cape May was always known for the espresso martinis he whipped up in batches and brought to parties.

He also made a mean Bloody Mary — but this is a story about espresso martinis, arguably the unofficial cocktail of the Jersey Shore.

The demand was so great that Conrad started a company, Frank’s Way. He reverse-engineered his recipe and now produces “Let’s Be Frank” — a canned espresso martini with three servings per can. It’s gluten-free and made with just five ingredients: espresso, Himalayan sea salt, cane sugar, agave fiber, and a grain-neutral spirit alcohol base.

He’s also got a limoncello variety. Check out the list of tastings and places to buy here.

Conrad, whose owns a family-run highway safety sign company, says he was never satisfied with the experience of ordering espresso martinis from the bar.

“I saw the inefficiencies of all the different bartenders,” he said. “One might be awesome at making espresso, but the other guy wouldn’t make it the same way. I would make my own at home. I had to make it Frank’s Way.”

Conrad used Cuban beans he’d sourced in Key West and a recipe he perfected in Cape May.

“I found a mild blend of Cuban espresso,” he said. “Some are too bitter. Cuban beans are known for being a lot smoother. I started making it with Kahlua, used Tito’s [vodka] for gluten free.

“I”m making it, and people who couldn’t really have those drinks would say, let me get a bottle of that," he said. All of a sudden, he said, “I’m making so much of this stuff.”

He went to the Barefoot Bar in Cape May, and the owner put it on the menu and made Frank a bartender. He batched it in the morning, put in a growler bottle, and sold it premade.

Typically a sit-at-the-bar cocktail, an espresso martini is not usually something you’d think to carry along with you to the beach, or drink at home for pre-gaming.

Conrad began figuring out how to manufacture it, put it in a can (stays fresher longer than a bottle), get the necessary federal alcohol license, and off it went.

Frank’s Way was incorporated on July 2, 2024, and the first cans of Let’s Be Frank hit shelves by the end of December. Since then, the canned cocktail has made the rounds among Jersey foodie influencers, including P.J. of the Traveling Tastebuds, who called it “smooth” and “kind of perfect.”

Conrad says his espresso martini is lighter in alcohol than one you would get at a bar like, say, Tomatoe’s in Margate, where the bar is possibly ground zero for the espresso martini craze.

“I went for the flavor,” he said. “I don’t want people walking crooked after one of them.”

Having it be a to-go drink also takes advantage of another current obsession, especially among Gen Z: iced coffee.

The limoncello variety is subtle, he said, a hint of lemon like you’d get if your espresso was garnished with a lemon rind.

He’s got two more varieties in development: Affogato, after the Italian desert that will taste of vanilla ice cream, a little hint of biscotti flavor, and sugar; and Reposado, a version that will be made with tequila.

The cans sell for $39.99 for a four-pack, which turns into 12 martinis and is available in liquor stores from Ship Bottom to Cape May. “It’s less than $3.50 per drink at home,” Conrad said. (At the bar, the espresso martini can run as much as $18.)

A true Cape May local who lives in the southernmost house in the state of New Jersey, Conrad gave his best Jersey Shore recommendations.

Favorite beach: The Gurney Street beach where we live, the most pictured street in Cape May.

Favorite summer breakfast: I would have to say George’s on Beach Avenue, the Greek eggs Benedict.

Perfect beach day: 70 and sunny with a slight breeze.

Perfect night at the Shore? Ebbitt Room for a cocktail, Primal for a steak dinner. Howard Street ramble at the Chalfonte on Thursday nights, when all the local musicians come and play.

Best Shore sandwich: Chicken cheesesteak at C-View, the dive bar in Cape May.

When summer approaches, I feel: Overwhelmed. I live in Cape May year-round. When it’s the fall, when it’s the spring, it’s nice, but everyone descends on Cape May. Liz and I go away for five weeks every summer.

Still, it wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore without: The people. It wouldn’t be the Jersey Shore if people didn’t show up.

Best thing for kids: The beach, number one.

Surfing or fishing? Neither. Barfly.

Sunrise or sunset? Sunrise.

Shore pet peeves? Drivers. When you drive down Route 9 and they can’t find their campground and it’s stop, go, stop, go.

The Shore could be improved if we all just: respected each other more. And everybody drank a Let’s Be Frank espresso martini.