The Loca Mocha Cocktail Recipe | Wine Enthusiast Magazine
Wine bottle illustration Displaying 0 results for
Suggested Searches
Shop
Articles & Content
Ratings

Courtesy Tobin Ludwig, Kobrick Coffee Co., New York City

Coffee, meet cocktail. This creamy, comforting sipper—essentially a spiced, spiked chocolate milk for grown-ups—is found at New York City’s Kobrick Coffee Co., the first brick and mortar venture from the 96-year-old coffee roaster.

While the coffee and cocktail cultures have been converging for some time, Kobrick is like a theme park at the intersection of booze and beans. For the Three Hour Kyoto Negroni, single origin Kenyan coffee, along with gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, are all brewed through a Yama Cold Brew Drip Tower—a dramatic performance, which, as the name suggests, takes about three hours to complete—while a Chemex holds chili pepper-infused vodka that’s dripped through a coffee filter for an incendiary Bloody Mary. The Loca Mocha, meanwhile, showcases cold-brew coffee, a natural pairing for a chilled cocktail.

The drinks were created by cocktail and spirits guru Tobin Ludwig, who’s also co-founder of Hella Bitters, which are showcased in some of the drinks. The Loca Mocha employs Hella Aromatic Bitters, which bears a passing resemblance to the familiar spice notes of Angostura.

Ingredients

1½ ounces Ancho Reyes Chili Liqueur
½ ounce Jameson Irish Whiskey
1½ ounces chocolate milk
1 ounce cold-brew coffee
2 dashes Hella Aromatic Bitters

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well, and strain into a glass that holds at least 5 ounces. Serve with a straw.

Spirit Spotlight: Ancho Reyes Chili Liqueur

Don’t be afraid of this roasted chili-pepper liqueur—it’s modest on the spice scale. The flavor profile is rounded, raisiny and full-bodied, mixing mellow caramel and cocoa with fruity, cinnamon-like heat. If you can’t find it, substitute an amaro with some sweetness and spice, like Amaro Montenegro.