#MurLarkeycocoawhiskey

[jollybartender]

Macaroon

This pretty drink is designed to taste like those European sandwich cookies flavored with almond, cocoa, and orange zest. The recipe calls for chocolate liqueur. I used MurLarkey cocoa whiskey--which is not a liqueur. I added a half teaspoon of sugar to sweeten the half ounce of cocoa whiskey in the drink. My Macaroon turned out very good, rich but not too sweet. Cocoa whiskey has a little more rawness of cocoa nibs and grain liqueur--it's not as smooth as creme de cacao. A large orange zest twisted over the drink and rubbed on the rim really helps cut the surgery ingredients.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Georgia Peach Fizz

Here comes another Fizz variation, this one is a mash up of a Brandy Fizz and a Georgia Peach. I used Bird Dog peach whiskey here instead of peach brandy, which is a fine substitution. Most peach brandy is flavored brandy, not a brandy made from peaches, so the flavor is mostly the same. Strangely, and very fitting in a culinary sense, creme de bananes is also in the recipe. Which is fine. I love that banana can add richness without tasting like a different fruit. My change is to use MurLarkey banana whiskey--probably their most versatile flavored whiskey. The rest is typical Fizz ingredients, lemon, soda and sugar.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Chocolate Martini

Despite all the ways this cocktail is being prepared now, the Chocolate Martini is still a Martini. That means it is dry, clear, and strong. There's no cream, milk chocolate liqueur, added sugar, coffee liqueur or espresso. I know this will confuse people who have been drinking or serving Chocolate Martinis with all this other stuff. But the real confusion comes from people confusing a Mudslide and an Espresso Martini with the very simple Chocolate Martini. So how do you do a Chocolate Martini right? First use a lot of good vodka. Treat it like a regular Martini. I am using MurLarkey Distillery's Divine Clarity potato vodka. Use whatever you like, but it's not a flavored vodka. I also used a teaspoon of MurLarkey Coco Whiskey. This is a brown liquor, so I want to use only a little bit of it for its dry coco flavor. A teaspoon of white creme de cacao adds sweetness without changing the color. Then you need the chocolate curl--and let me tell you: these things don't just make themselves.

See the recipe and how to make chocolate curls here.

[jollybartender]

Rose Hall Nightcap

Rose Hall, a grand estate in Jamaica seems to have a few cocktails dedicated to it's memory. The most memorable being the White Witch, who's ghost still haunts the mansion since colonial days. Unsurprisingly, the drinks devoted to this spooky place are white. The Nightcap is no exception. Nightcap cocktails are usually strong and milky and are served either hot or cold. Pernod is one unusual ingredient that adds a lot of sweet and bitter herb flavor. Another unusual ingredient, though not for nightcaps, is dark creme de cacao. I don't have the dark, but MurLarkey cocoa whiskey allows me to make it. I added a half teaspoon of sugar to the cocktail and the sweetness of the Pernod also helped keep this sweet drink from being too dry.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Bourbon A La Creme

The idea here is to infuse your bourbon with vanilla flavors and then thicken it up with a sugary chocolate liqueur. This is one of the prettier flavored bourbon drinks, though, and I had a chance to do it properly. First, the recipe asks that you prepare some bourbon by placing 2 vanilla beans in bourbon for an hour before drinking the cocktail. Whether you make the cocktail first and refrigerate it with the beans in it or just in the bourbon is a little unclear. It says to put all ingredients in a shaker and refrigerate--with ice. Shake it and put it in the fridge for an hour. What? All the ice will melt. But I see where this is going. Of all the cocktails in the New York Bartender's guide, this is the only one that hints at making an infusion. And the idea is sound, if not the method. So I infused the bourbon first with the vanilla. But then I used MurLarkey's cocoa infused whiskey and a little sugar for the creme de cacao for real bittersweet chocolate and whiskey flavors. This was a good move. MurLarkey's infused white whiskey allows you to control for sweetness. You can add enough simple to really make a creme out of it, or drink it neat for dryness. It's up to you.

See the recipe here.

[jollybartender]

Velvet Hammer

I've made this drink before with vodka and dark creme de cacao. Everyone I made the Velvet Hammer for enjoyed it as a strong dessert drink, as the name suggests. Using MurLarkey cocoa whiskey changes it a little (add a tsp. of sugar syrup if you do this). The flavor of cocoa nib whiskey adds more traction that I liked. The drink is less velvety (which I take it to mean smooth and soft like a creamy dessert.) I think that cocoa whiskey works here for the whiskey drinkers who like to taste the spirit in the drink.

See the recipe on my website.

[jollybartender]

Brandy Alexander

This is the most common cocktail of the Alexander family of dessert drinks, the original Alexander being made with gin. It is an easy recipe to remember because it is equal parts brandy, chocolate liqueur and half-and-half and topped with nutmeg sprinkles. I'm making this Brandy Alexander very American by using east coast ingredients: namely, the Copper & Kings brandy and MurLarkey chocolate whiskey. As I often state with MurLarkey flavored whiskeys, there is no sugar. If you want your drink to be sweet, and you do with the Alexander drinks, you have to add sugar.

See the recipe on my website.