This cocktail features an amazing mezcal but was a struggle to get just the right combination of flavors to work for everyone. Fortunately, I finally got the chance to use the bitters I got from the Portland Bitters Project to help it all come together. We also ended up with one of the best names for a cocktail yet.
This drink started with a mezcal because one of my guests on the live stream, Sam Saenz, loves mezcal. Of course I want to make drinks people will love. The challenge is making a drink that satisfies everyone on the stream. Sam has a slightly sweeter palate than my other guest, JoJo Jernigan. So when we get a drink that works for Sam, it’s too sweet for JoJo, and vice versa.
Even though it was a challenge, there were a couple of breakthroughs in the entire process. One of them was splitting the base spirit. Sam wanted some lime juice or something similar and fruity to add to the mezcal and apple. I really didn’t want to add much acidity to the drink because I was afraid it would ruin the fresh apple flavor from the liqueur. I may have also wanted to avoid lime juice simply because that’s what people usually default to with mezcal or tequila. Why not try something different and exciting?
That’s when I decided to try some blonde rum. While rum isn’t strictly fruity, I felt like I could take advantage of what rum brings to the table. There are subtle notes of tropical fruit and that might be just enough to satisfy Sam’s craving for fruitiness. I was confident I was on to something but definitely nervous that it was going to be a train wreck. You can imagine my relief when my skeptical guests gave it a solid nod.
Of course we were still sitting on a drink that was a little too sweet for my palate, even with the mezcal. Amaros go well with rum so I wanted to try those, but that was a challenge as well. If an amaro was too aggressive then it would bury everything else and the flavors wouldn’t combine well. So I went with what I consider a fairly mild amaro, Cynar. That was the Goldilock’s Point and that’s when we noticed some interesting flavors coming out.
JoJo first pointed out there was a hint of chocolate coming from somewhere. So why not play with that and add some Dark Cacao bitters from the Portland Bitters Project? I can see no good reason not to. We tried it and it worked.
I was really excited to be able to use these bitters that I picked up a while back. They are great but I’ve just never had a cocktail that called for them until now. That Dark Cacao is amazing and adds a lot to the drink. But I wanted more.
I wanted to add some brightness to the drink so I dug deeper into my bitters stash and tried out the Aromatic Bitters from Portland Bitters Project. It adds a nice brightness and complexity that I really get into and makes the drink as a whole a lot more interesting to me.
When you express some orange oils on top and play with the cacao and chocolate, the drink falls into place.
I should take a minute to explain the name, because names are hard. They’re also some of the most fun we can have on the live stream. It’s stressful but when you get one that everyone likes you just have to run with it.
Since we were using bitters from Portland, Sam was reminded of Portlandia. There’s a sketch where a couple has a safe word of cacao. You can see where this is going right?
This drink is so good, we’d never say cacao to it.
Give this one a shot and let me know what you think. I’d be curious how you feel about different amounts of bitters and how that affects the flavor. I found myself torn on the amount of aromatic bitters to use so let me know what you think.
Safe Word (I'd Never Say Cacao to You)
There's a lot going on in this Mezcal and rum drink, including some mysterious chocolate flavors and same amazing bitters from Portland.
Ingredients
- 3/4 oz Nuestra Soledad Mezcal
- 3/4 oz Apfel Liqeuer
- 3/4 oz Papa Pilar Blonde Rum
- 3 drops Dark Cacao Bitters from the Portland Bitters Project
- 3 drops Aromatic Bitters from the Portland Bitters Project
- 1 orange peel
Instructions
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Mix in all the ingredients and stir with ice until cold.
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Strain into a glass of your choice, preferably a rocks glass.
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Express the oils of the orange peel across the top.
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Enjoy!