- Hi, welcome back to the Cocktail Vlog.
I'm Steve the Bartender, and it's Negroni Week.
I've got many Negronis coming up,
but first, I need to show you
how to make a brown creme de cao
so that we can follow it up tomorrow
with the chocolate Negroni.
So I'm starting off with a high-proof vodka.
You can use a rum as well, if you like,
so high-proof being about 50%, 100-proof.
I'm just doing 375 mil, so half a bottle,
and to that, I'm gonna add some cacao nibs.
This is super simple, you just gotta be
a little bit patient so you can let
the cacao nibs rest with your spirit.
So I'm putting a full packet in,
which is 200 grams, just over 6 ounces.
And hopefully it doesn't jam up this funnel.
So 375 mils of liquid to 200 grams, slash 6 ounces.
Just as I suspected.
Okay, so now that you've got
all your cacao nibs in your spirit,
give it a bit of a shake and store it in a cupboard,
in a dark cupboard, for two weeks.
Okay, so here's one I prepared earlier
that's been resting for two weeks.
Alternatively, if you're impatient like me
and you don't wanna wait for two weeks
then you can use a double boiler
and just basically put it over heat
and it will speed up that process.
You could probably do it for over half an hour
or an hour over heat, and it will extract
the flavor and the oils and everything
out of the cacao into your spirit,
whether you've used a vodka or a rum.
So now simply strain out your cacao nibs.
If you want to, I'm just using a fine strainer,
if preferred, though, you could use a cheesecloth.
It does smell, it smells delicious,
smells really chocolatey.
So this is a relatively fine conical strainer.
I'm pretty happy with how it's doing.
So now that you've strained out the solids,
need to add a little bit of sugar to sweeten it up.
But first, just gonna give it a taste test.
It is really, really dark, and it looks rich,
and it smells delicious.
It's very chocolatey, it is quite bitter,
and that's why we're gonna add the sugar to it.
(fingers snapping as Steve makes a whooshing noise)
So you can simply add a one-to-one sugar syrup.
I've made a sugar syrup with brown sugar,
hence why it's this kind of color.
If you want, you could use a white sugar,
whatever you have around the house.
It's still gonna work, but I think
this is gonna give it a richer flavor.
So I'm gonna measure out 120 mil.
And when I say one-to-one sugar syrup, it's by weight,
so rather than by volume.
Again, I'll give it another quick taste,
but ideally, you'll let this rest for a couple of days
and the flavors will meld.
It is very rich.
It's quite dry from the cacao.
I might add another 60 mil of sugar.
Keep in mind, it looks like I don't know what I'm doing,
but I'm experimenting as I'm going
and this is the first time I've made it,
so I'm running through it on camera at the same time,
rather than making it beforehand and then redoing it.
So, another 60 mil.
I think that's the sweet spot.
We're gonna bottle it, let it rest for a day,
and then I'll be making a chocolate Negroni for you.
So there you have brown creme de cao.
Make sure you stick around for tomorrow's chocolate Negroni.
Cheers?
(mellow music)