Looking for a new way to enjoy coffee in your cocktail? Mr Black, an award-winning Australian cold brew coffee liqueur company, launched Coffee Amaro in the United States recently at the beginning of the month in April. Mr Black has enjoyed success in the past with its bitter liqueur inspired by Italy’s after-dinner drink tradition and Australia’s coffee culture.

It is crafted with bittersweet Arabica coffee, fourteen carefully selected distillates, and macerated fresh botanicals such as citrus from the brand’s distillery garden in Erina, Australia, and native Australian botanicals. The brand calls it “a modern take on the traditional Italian bitter liqueur”.

Tom Baker, co-founder of Mr Black shares, “What people might not know about Mr Black, is our coffee roastery is also a world-class gin distillery. Our Co-Founder Philip Moore is Australia’s highest awarded gin distiller, being the only Australian to have won Gold at the London International Wine & Spirits Competition. We make coffee by night and distill botanicals during the day. Our Coffee Amaro is the extension of my love and worship of coffee and Philip’s 30-year botanical obsession”.

Baker told Esquire in 2019, “There are more isolated flavours in coffee than red wine—Mr Black’s goal is to take that world into the night.” Personally, I agree that coffee is much more complex than people realize and the options are quite endless with all the regions, changing weather patterns, and industry movements.

Head distiller, Philip Moore notes, “Amaro is essentially a botanical drink, similar to gin or absinthe, so blending that idea with the specialty coffee craftsmanship of Mr Black was something I really enjoyed developing”.

The botanicals include orange, lemon, coffee, angelica, illawarra plum, coriander, licorice root, macadamia, gentian, lime, quassia, caraway, grapefruit, and cardamom. ABV is 28.5%.

According to Nielsen’s, sales for coffee liqueurs grew 23.7 percent, with Mr. Black ranking as the second fastest-growing liqueur overall on e-retailer Drizly in 2020. Both coffee and Amaro have long been prized for their qualities as digestive drinks enjoyed at the end of a meal or in classic cocktails, especially in Europe.

Food Republic reported that there is a long history of botanicals being used and that ancient “Greeks and Romans considered botanicals medicinal. Carthusian Monks created Chartreuse in the 17th and 18th centuries, and Benedictine gets its name from a 16th century abbey in Normandy.”

Espresso martinis have been appearing on menus around the country now, especially as craft coffee becomes more popular. Many people expanded their knowledge of coffee during the pandemic as well with the rise of work from home and remote culture.

The release of Mr Black Coffee Amaro will see only 1,200 bottles available across the US through MrBlack.Co and select outlets in New York and California.

Sources: Food Republic, Esquire