Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

Bea Bradsell is the On-Trade Director of The Drink Cabinet. Over her 20 years in hospitality, she has worked at some of the world’s top venues including El Camion, Callooh Callay, Swift & The Dead Rabbit. Bea is also the daughter of Dick Bradsell, creator of many modern classics, most notably the Espresso Martini and the Bramble.

Mr Black is less sweet than your average coffee liqueur, with rich bitter notes that are balanced with bright floral and fruity notes. These layered flavours make it really adaptable and perfect for a range of cocktails.

Mr Black is the perfect coffee liqueur to make home bartending and creating Espresso Martinis for pre-drinks or as an after-party treat, a breeze. However, it’s also perfect when topped up with tonic on a balmy summer afternoon or even just sipped on the rocks cosying up at the end of the night.

If you’re a lover of coffee, this is the liqueur for you. A lot of the beautiful delicate flavours found in 3rd wave coffee culture shine bright here. Using speciality coffee means you're more likely to taste some of the more unusual coffee flavours - tropical pineapple and mango, floral rose, orange and even earthy vegetal notes. If you’ve been wanting to experiment with incorporating coffee into a range of classic cocktails, this is the perfect choice. If you’re expecting a thick and overly sweet coffee liqueur, this probably isn’t the one for you but it’s worth an experiment!

If you’re a coffee cocktail fan, the Espresso Martini is, of course, the classic. It’s also a drink you can have fun with. Play around with the ratios and find your perfect balance. Adapt the drink to how you like your coffee. Prefer a straight Espresso or filter coffee? Well, Mr Black has enough coffee flavour to let you explore. Prefer a sweeter coffee or a flavoured drink? Try adding your favourite syrups. Be sure to start light and add more, because a little syrup goes a long way in this cocktail. Feeling like something a little lighter? Flip the ratios and add more coffee liqueur and less vodka. I like to add a little orange zest into the shaker, really giving an extra depth of dimension. I’m also a huge fan of a stirred coffee cocktail with Mr Black. An Old Fashioned or a Negroni really gains an extra kick with the rounded coffee flavour. We had a drink on the menu at Callooh Callay that was Mr Black, rum, Cynar and banana liqueur and it was out of this world.

A good Espresso Martini needs a good shake and for this, you need plenty of ice to stop over-dilution. The more ice you add to your shaker, the less it melts, which when you give the drink a hard shake means it chills down without going watery. If you’re using supermarket ice, it tends to chip a bit more than the ice we use in bars, so I would just make sure you’re using a fine strainer as well as the strainer with the shaker to make sure you’re not left sipping on ice chips.

I always like a bit of a ‘V’ to my Espresso Martini glasses. Maybe not all the way to the giant mid-90s glasses but just enough of the shape to remind you of them and bring a touch of nostalgia to the experience. However, I do also enjoy using a smaller glass so you can sip before the drink warms up. I’ve found some beautiful vintage martini and coupe options over the years.

With Mr Black’s more subtle notes, you can actually pair it with many different parts of the meal. A bright citrusy cocktail will bring out the zestier and more floral flavours making it work well with lighter summer dishes. For dessert, Espresso Martinis are well known for pairing well, but you can definitely experiment with the style of dessert. Maybe even add a dash of flavoured syrup to your Espresso Martini to pair it more perfectly.