Drinking Chocolate
April 2, 2010 - 1:52pm | by Daniel Priseman
Well it’s Easter again, which of course means I have every excuse to over-indulge on chocolate, with almost no guilt whatsoever. This year though, I am not going to be having an Easter egg. No sir! I’ll be getting my chocolate fix in liquid form instead.
Well it’s Easter again, which of course means I have every excuse to over-indulge on chocolate, with almost no guilt whatsoever. This year though, I am not going to be having an Easter egg. No sir! I’ll be getting my chocolate fix in liquid form instead.The idea of using chocolate in drinks is of course nothing new, and at this time of year especially there are plenty of drinks being posted on cocktail blogs and websites that are absolutely loaded with chocolaty goodness. But I thought it might be time for something a bit different; so grabbing all the chocolate I could find in the house, I set about making drinks that subtly celebrate cocoa in all its glory.
You see, when you add chocolate to a drink it can get pretty rich and sickly, and frankly I’d rather enjoy lots of chocolate drinks (responsibly of course!) than have one or two and then feel sick. So this Easter at b&t HQ we’ll be enjoying a few well-balanced drinks with just enough chocolate to tease the taste buds, but not so much that there’ll be a need to diet once Easter is over.
There are lots of ways to add chocolate to drinks, crème de cacao, chocolate liqueurs, cocoa powder, chocolate syrup, cocoa nibs or even chocolate bitters! The important thing though is not to over-do it; so with that in mind I reached for the Mozart dark chocolate liqueur and set to work on my first creation, an old-fashioned variation.
VERY TERRY’S OLD FASHIONED
50 ml Santa Teresa Claro
10 ml Mozart Black chocolate liqueur
10 ml Santa Teresa Rhum Orange
2 dashes orange bitters
In a mixing glass add all ingredients and plenty of cracked or cubed ice. Stir slowly until well chilled and properly diluted, then strain into an old fashioned glass with a few chunks of cracked ice and finish off with an orange twist rolled up to look like a flower bud.
Having successfully bastardised one classic cocktail, I thought I’d stick with the theme, so next in the mixing glass was a variation on my old favourite the Manhattan! I wanted to keep this one largely in tact but with just a hint of chocolate to the aftertaste and a bit of luxury to the garnish.
CHOCOLATE CHERRY MANHATTAN
50 ml Rye whiskey
15 ml Martini Rossato
5 ml Cherry Heering
5 ml Mozart Dark chocolate liqueur
2 ml Fernet Branca
2 dashes Bitter Truth xocolatl mole bitters
Stir all ingredients with plenty of cracked or cubed ice and once properly chilled and diluted strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a couple of cocktail cherries that have been dipped in dark chocolate.
Since this chocolate themed drinking seemed to be working out pretty well I decided to up the chocolate content, but offset it with a little citrus kick. Tequila and chocolate work brilliantly together so the obvious direction was for me was to chocolatise a margarita and replace the salt rim with chocolate sprinkles for good measure!
HOLY MOLE MARGARITA
50 ml reposado tequila
15 ml cacao blanco
10 ml Mozart Dark chocolate liqueur
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash Bitter Truth xocolatl mole bitters
Shake all ingredients with plenty of cubed ice and strain into a cocktail glass that has been half rimmed with chocolate syrup and dipped in chocolate sprinkles.
Finally, at Easter time, how could I neglect to include the humble egg in my plans? For those who shy away from using eggs in cocktails… get over it! Use nice fresh eggs and you’ll be fine. This is where I would usually insert several tasteless puns; egg puns crack me up, but in the interest of keeping you reading I’ll restrain myself and move on to an Easter inspired flip recipe instead.
YOU MUST BE FLIPPING YOLKING
50 ml Beefeater Gin
1 egg
10 ml Lillet Blanc
10 ml Crème de Peche
10 ml Cacao Blanc
5 ml Yellow Chartreuse
2 dashes orange bitters
Combine all the ingredients in a shaker with plenty of cubed ice and shake it hard! Strain into a small goblet or wine glass and garnish with some grated dark chocolate.
All this talk of Easter drinks is making me thirsty so I’m going to sign off and set to work on some rabbit infused gomme and daffodil bitters! I hope you get to enjoy a few chocolate laced cocktails over the long weekend; don’t forget to let us know if you come across any cracking ideas that we should try out!
Comments
another beautiful chocolate mixer
Chocolate Martini - with Urban Moonshine Herbal Aphrodisiac Chocolate Syrup
2 oz organic vodka
1/2 oz organic heavy cream
1 oz Urban Moonshine Chocolate Love Tonic
ice cubes
shaker, strainer, cocktail glass
Voila!
www.urbanmoonshine.com - Organic Bitters and Tonics
mmmmmmm maple bitters
Hi Megan,
thanks for leaving a comment and a recipe. I was judging a cocktail comp yesterday and one of the bartenders produced a bottle of your maple bitters. They are great and I hope some of your products will be available over here soon!
CHOCOLATE COCKTAILS
Hi all,
Just thought I’d add to this Easter thread of chocolaty goodness!
I was in Hong Kong last week and spent some very chocolaty hours in VERO Chocolate Lounge located at Fenwick Pier, Wanchai, Hong Kong. It is, by day, a chocolate factory of the very highest and bespoke standards! The smell in there is to die for!! The lounge includes a chocolate art gallery, a walk-in chocolate humidor and of course a bar that serves chocolate based cocktails and dreams!!
Naturally there is a Sagatiba angle to this piece and that’s that the offices of our importer and distributor in Hong Kong (Shouji) are located directly above this chocolate haven!
A wonderful selection of Sagatiba and VERO Chocolate cocktails are available at the bar. If you find yourself in Hong Kong, be sure to check it out!!
Happy Easter!!
http://www.verochocolates.com/
travel envy!
Hey John,
the lounge looks amazing and my mouth is watering at the thought of all those chocolate laced Sagatiba cocktails! Thanks for the pointer, I will be sure to check it out if I ever find myself in Hong Kong!
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