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Chocolate Cocktails Your Guests Will Love

We know our guests love a sweet treat - have you ever thought about using chocolate in your cocktails? We caught up with one of London’s trendiest venues, the Riding House Café to find out more about how they make chocolate cocktail treats for their customers and offer delicious chocolate cocktail recipes.

What is a chocolate cocktail?

A chocolate cocktail, or perhaps otherwise known as ‘Choctails’ have been highlighted as a key trend - with consumer’s craving for sweet treats now extending beyond dessert and into drinks. In recent years, cocktail ingredients have gone beyond the bounds of traditional fruit and herb components to savoury, spicy and other varied ingredients in an attempt to delight and explore the palate.

Chris Hutchinson is Bar Manager at The Riding House Café in London he has been using chocolate in his choctails for years. He explains to us why he thinks the scope for chocolate infused drinks is huge for bars to consider.

HOW TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE COCKTAIL?

Try these recipe ideas from Chris at the Riding House Café and learn his top tips as to when to serve them.

CRYSTAL MAZE

This is a great afternoon, early evening drink. We recommend serving it with an afternoon tea, or a light bite like a cake or scone. The Tabasco and orange flavours work really well with anything sweet

35ml Blood orange infused JOHNNIE WALKER™ RED LABEL®

INGREDIENTS

10ml Peated scotch whisky

20ml Beetroot juice

15ml Lime juice

10ml Chocolate sauce

1 Dash of tabasco

A pinch of salt

1 Egg white

METHOD: Add all the ingredients into a shaker. Shake with ice and double strain, serve straight up.

(1.8 standard drinks*- 1.4 units per serve)

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Adding Chocolate Flavours enhances your flavour

“Chocolate in cocktails naturally appeals to the curious consumer - eager to try new experiences every time they walk into a bar. We knew that standard cocktails with regular components were widely available and hence we needed to think outside the box in terms of bringing new flavour components to our drinks menu. I love using chocolate, I think it is versatile, easy to us and boasts a depth of flavours which can add real ‘wow factor’ to drinks.

The challenges to using chocolate in cocktails are the same as any other fresh produce. You need to ensure it remains fresh throughout service and create new sauces and shavings throughout the evening. Ensure you store the chocolate correctly and make sure it is easily accessible if it something you plan to use regularly through a shift. One top tip is keep it out of reach of grazing bartenders! It’s honestly one of the greatest challenges when working with chocolate!

One of the main reasons we introduced chocolate into our drinks is that when a customer sees a familiar flavour, like chocolate on the menu, they are more inclined to choose it, even if they aren’t as familiar with some of the other components in the drink. This little bit of knowledge on flavour makes guests much more likely to explore outside their comfort zone and try something they haven’t tried before. I know many guests who would never touch whisk(e)y, but when they see chocolate on the menu they suddenly have a little more courage!”

POPULAR COCKTAIL RECIPE

LIVIN' ON A PRAYER

This is the perfect cocktail to recommend to guests after a meal. The strong flavour profile is well suited to cut through a post dinner meal. If guests are looking for something to enjoy the cocktail with I would suggest pairing with a strong blue cheese or a rich toffee dessert to bring out the flavours.

As previously mentioned guests can be reluctant to try certain spirits they feel uncomfortable with, therefore this serve is the perfect way to encourage guests to try something new whilst also giving them some familiarity with the chocolate.

40ml JOHNNIE WALKER™ RED LABEL®

20ml Red vermouth

2 Dashes of chocolate bitters

METHOD: Stir with ice and strain in a martini glass. Served with an orange twist garnish.

(1.9 standard drinks*- 1.9 units per serve)

The FUTURE OF CHOCOLATE COCKTAILS

And what does the future hold for chocolate and the cocktail world?

“I think the demand for chocolate drinks has the potential to explode in coming years. My prediction is that we can expect to see many more bars thinking inside the chocolate box and incorporating chocolates in future concoctions! To anyone still in doubt as to why they should start seriously thinking of chocolate let me remind you of two key reasons. Firstly it is a great way to ease customers into new spirit ranges they perhaps haven’t dabbled in before. Secondly the curious consumer always needs to be pleased and this is a great way to delight the 21st century guest. My expectations are for choctails to venture beyond the afternoon early/ evening drink service and become a more regular feature in late night venue drink lists.”

Have you experimented with chocolate in your bar? Share your serves on Instagram @diageobarac or like us on Facebook – we love to see all your creations!

Sign up and become a member of Diageo Bar Academy today and unlock the latest industry news, trends and tips to keep your bar knowledge up to speed!

(*One standard drink contains 8g of alcohol)

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Monday, March 27th at 5PM (UTC) 

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