Mr Black Roasters & Distillers have grown immensely in the past few years, picking up quite a few awards along the way and selling out limited releases left, right and centre. Their latest expression is the second permanent addition to their growing line of specialty coffee liqueurs, pushing in a bit of a different direction with cold brew coffee and fourteen distilled and macerated fresh botanicals, including citrus from the brand’s own distillery garden on the Central Coast of NSW. Titled Mr Black Coffee Amaro, the recently released expression is a modern take on the traditional Italian bitter liqueur.
“What people might now 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”, explained co-founder of Mr Black Tom Baker. “We make coffee by night and distill botanicals during the day. Our Coffee Amaro is an extension of my love and worship of coffee and Philip’s 30-year botanical obsession”.
This puts Amaro in-line with a gin or an absinthe since it is essentially a botanical drink with a generous bill. It has been crafted to mirror both amaro, a drink traditionally seen as a digestivi with a profile of bitterness, herbal complexity, fruit flavours and subtle sweetness. Mr Black’s modern Australian amaro is akin to the rounded, darker caramel notes of something like an averna, nonino or nardini.
The liqueur is described as being bitter with a profile or orange, grapefruit and toasted coffee on the palate before a soft, high quality bitter finish rounds it out. Mr Black Special Edition Coffee Amaro is now available in 700ml bottles for an RRP of $80. It is available HERE or from selected bars.
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