Café Maya
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Intro
I’ve always loved bitters. Everything from their historic use as medicinal tinctures to the crazy variety of types of bitters from country to country is fascinating to me. If I go to a nice speakeasy or cocktail bar, I’ll see if they have homemade bitters (or just a nice selection I can ask about) and get a bitters and soda with lime (or lemon, depending on the flavors of the bitters) instead of water. Bitters are made of high-proof alcohol that is infused with roots, botanicals, herbs, etc.; non-alcoholic bitters are made with glycerin. Aromatic and bitter, these tinctures round out drinks in subtle and beautiful ways; for example, if you ever try a Manhattan without bitters it just tastes overly-sweet and syrupy.
Pre-1806, the word “Cocktail” actually indicated a TYPE of drink the way a Julep, Sour, Collins, etc. are all categories of spirited drinks. If you ordered a “Cocktail,” it meant you wanted a drink with a spirit, sugar, water, and bitters. It wasn’t until after the early 1800’s that “cocktail” became a catchall word for all spirited drinks. When you hear the term “aromatic bitters,” this refers to the very strong tinctures like Angostura Bitters. There are what’s called “potable bitters,” like Campari and Fernet Branca, which can be sipped on their own or added to cocktails in quantities higher than “a dash or two.” From what I’ve noticed in the industry, most refer to “potable bitters” like your Fernets of the world as “liqueurs” and “bitters” is reserved for “aromatic bitters.”
Remember this episode of The Office? (picture from Reddit)
Anyways, as I’m creating more and more cocktails, I’ve started to dive into my interest for aromatic bitters and have bought a couple recently to play around with — the first one is made by Bittermens and this cocktail uses their mole-flavored bitters. By itself it has a nice chocolatey and slightly-spiced flavor, so I mix it with the freshness of a blanco/silver tequila, Mr. Black’s Cold Brew Liquor, and some expressed orange peel to round out the earthy flavors. It drinks somewhat like an Old Fashioned but obviously has more coffee and chocolate flavors; I like it because it’s more complex than an Old Fashioned — a drink I’ve had WAY too many of to the point where I just can’t drink them anymore. This drink is perfect after a meal and before a night out (:
What You'll Need
For each cocktail:
1½ oz blanco tequila (I use Fortaleza’s Tequila Blanco)
1 oz Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
¼ oz agave nectar
1 dash Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters (or 5 “drops” since they use a dropper)
Garnish: orange peel
Instructions
Combine the tequila, Mr. Black, agave, and mole bitters in a cocktail mixing glass with standard ice cubes; stir well (at least 30 seconds)
Add fresh ice to each cocktail glass (preferably a big rock ice cube) and strain the cocktail into each glass
Express the oils from your orange peel over the drink and give each glass’s rim a quick swipe; leave the orange peel in the drink as a garnish
Drankkkk
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