Ever thought to use Vegemite in a cocktail? I certainly hadn't but thankfully I have
very creative colleagues and it was an instant hit on the Bomba Rooftop.
This is an extended look at a drink that we made for our collaboration with Mr Black,
you can find a link to that in the description below,
but in this video we'll be taking a deeper look at where this drink came from
and I'll do some tasting notes at the end. And of course, thanks to Mr Black,
we're giving you the chance to win your very own cocktail making kit, Vegemite and all.
One of the most common questions that I get asked is how bartenders come up with new cocktails.
A while ago I actually brought in my then second in command Rachel Hand, she has now moved on so
I can just say friend and respected fellow bartender, and we chatted about seasonality
and letting that inspire your cocktails. You can find the link for that episode below
if you're interested, but another thing which can inspire you is just interesting products
and Mr Black certainly falls into that category as they have reimagined the
flavor profile of a coffee liqueur. So that got Rachel thinking about
everyone's, or at least my favorite cocktail, the Espresso Martini.
What if you could build a drink to mimic that flavor profile, so kind of a bit stronger,
a little bit less sweet, basically a bit of a delicious punch in the face. Essentially, if an
Espresso Martini is for milky coffee drinkers then this is for those that take their coffee black.
An Australian theme seemed apt as well given that Mr Black really evolved from
Australian coffee and cocktail culture and what's more Australian than Vegemite?
Butter vodka may sound a little weird, but essentially what they've
done is fat wash the vodka with local Tasmanian butter and vanilla pods.
So fat washing is a really interesting technique which we'll definitely need to do
a video on at some point, because you can do it at home. It basically just
infuses not only flavor but also texture into spirits, so the vodka becomes almost creamy.
Wattle seed is a native Australian seed which is a little bit nutty, a little bit spicy,
a little bit chocolatey, so perfect in here to support all of the other flavors that
we're playing with. If you're not in Australia though you probably won't be able to find it
so don't stress. You can just leave it out, Mr Black has plenty of toastiness already.
As with a regular Espresso Martini, the fresher the coffee the better.
Vegemite is Australia's answer to Marmite, and don't get them started on which one is better,
I'm not getting into that debate, but it's basically straight umami
and honestly can be a little bit much. But in the tiny quantities that we've used
it here it just gives a really like a little salty savory edge that keeps you coming back for more.
Playing with salt and cocktails is actually a really fun way to up your game.
A lot of bartenders will advocate adding some saline solution in the same way that you would
to salt a dish, just a little drop or two and it just really makes the flavors pop
and this essentially does the same thing in here, in a very malty and moreish way.
There are a lot of savory flavors in this cocktail so I like to add
a little cinnamon sugar or even just brown sugar on top to sip through.
So we're going to go with 40 mls of our 666 butter vodka.
And then we've got 20 mls of your wattle seed infused Mr Black cold drip coffee liqueur.
So I just emptied it out, infused it and popped it back in the bottle to keep things nice and
neat. It's actually kind of a perfect little size for that doing some fun experiments.
Then we've got 30 mils of espresso coffee. 30 ml is what
the machine pours so we can just go straight in. And then I've got my little Vegemite syrup here,
it's actually half agave and then just with a little spoonful of Vegemite.
We just want a little hint of it, it's a little accent, just 10 mils of that.
Fill your shaker tin with as much ice as you can fit in there.
Pop the tins together and shake as hard as you can.
You obviously want that nice foamy head on there as well so really give it laldy.
It's
going to keep you awake that one!
And then we just want to fine strain it because you want to keep that nice kind
of foamy texture on the head, definitely good to get all the little ice chips out.
And then we're just going to finish it off with a little bit of cinnamon sugar or brown sugar.
You can grate some nutmeg as well if you prefer. The Long Black. So now you know.
Pretty excited to get stuck into this one.
I mean it's no secret that I love an Espresso Martini and this is perfect because it's
not so far away that you just feel like you're drinking a different drink. Sometimes I can
you know be a bit wary of people playing with my favorites, but my one criticism
of the Espresso Martini can be that they are sometimes a little bit sweet um so this one...
Like that real bitter coffee note properly comes through. It does feel more like you're drinking
yeah a long black or even just like a shot of espresso,
um because you kind of got like a little bit of acid from the espresso,
like it's quite refreshing and really makes your mouth water. And then you've
got that little uh that little kind of salty savory edge coming through from the Vegemite.
Honestly I had to take this off the menu at Bomba eventually because otherwise I would just
drink them all night long, so (ha ha), yeah, very very dangerous and delicious.
As mentioned at the beginning Mr Black have kindly offered a prize to one lucky viewer.
While we would absolutely love to send you bottles of this, sadly liquor laws
around the world make that pretty difficult, so instead we've put together a cocktail making kit
including your very own jar of Vegemite. Check out the details in the description below.