Black Phillip: Wouldst Thou Like to Drink Deliciously?
1 1/2 oz Pikesville Rye
3/4 oz Averna Amaro
3/4 oz ROOT Liqueur
1/4 oz Pure Maple Syrup
2-3 dashes Owl & Whale Cranberry Bitters
Mansinthe Absinthe rinse
Stir everything but the Absinthe with ice and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass rinsed with the Absinthe. Live Deliciously.
This is a drink I’ve been trying to get solid for a while now and I think I’ve just about got it. I was trying to see if I could filch this off of something established but it started taking on a life of it’s own, like it was speaking to me in a hushed voice no one else could hear. I wanted full flavor, a unique aroma, and above all else, utter deliciousness. I think the final bit of glue to put this together was inspired from making the recent Black Rye.
I was going back and forth on whether to use ROOT or hit it with a beautiful bitterness with something like Suze, Campari or Cynar. The idea of the earthy Suze was most appealing but sweetness and the ROOT won out due to the overall fullness of flavor and hint of decadence I was looking for with the Averna as its subtle bittering agent and blackener.
One thing that will be interesting is that if I keep trying to make this I’ll have to source a replacement for the ROOT Liqueur. There are a few root beer liqueurs on the market that I hope will suffice. I may also just try to make my own at some point from this recipe. I will, however, make it at a higher ABV with an over-proof rum rather than a standard vodka.
The Cranberry Bitters really add that little extra kick if you can find them. I’ve been trying to find a good way to really utilize them and I feel like they seem to match up very well with everything that’s mixed here. This is the only Bitters I have from Owl & Whale so far but they’re worth looking into some more.
The amount of Maple Syrup you use will greatly affect how this drink tastes. I’m debating if I should up the official measure to 1/2 oz as that’s probably closer to what ended up in the mixing glass and I don’t think I’d want any less. And remember kids, life is too short for fake Maple Syrup.
I’ve just came up with a Black Phillip cocktail myself and then came by your recipe. It’s interesting to cross check some flavors we ended up having in common. Maple syrup is really hard to find where I am, so I used Cola syrup. For the spirit I went with Black Rum, just because I like it better, and then fat-washed it with butter (get it?). Averna was my exact same choice. And lastly, some dashes of Angoustura bitters, again easier to find and the aroma went really well with the butter… Didn’t think of the absinthe thou, great tip for a next try. Cheers!
Awesome! There’s really nothing like a fat washed rum. I went with the Rye, Maple, and Cranberries as they’re all historically very common to New England here, though maybe I should have also used Butterfly Boston Absinthe then. Rum may have actually been more common as well now that I think of it. I’ve been trying to recreate this with more available ingredients since Art in the Age is no longer making their Root liqueur. Keep me updated if you decide to develop it some more.
Edit: Fun fact, the goat in the picture above was photographed at the sugarhouse I got my maple syrup from.
During research I did find maple and berries to be the go-to flavours for a historically accurate New England drink, but it’s SO hard to find here and it wouldn’t be practical to import because it wouldn’t be very “repeatable”, I’m in Brazil by the way.
I love rum and it was very common during the colonizarion period as well, both North and South Amrican, so it was an easy trade for me when it came to whisky.
I actually forgot to address it in the first comment, but I used hard cider, which was also very common at the time. When I’ve seen your root beer, which I believe has a similiar kind of taste, I thought to myself: “nailed it”.
So, cola syrup seems kind of out of place, but my neighbors at Argentina have a drink named Fernet and Coke, which I changed for Coke and Averna, “Caverna”, if you will, so I was used to this combination.
Makes total sense. I had considered using cider but I think at the time I was going to save that for something else. I can totally appreciate the thought put into it all.
I have had Fernet and Coke, I’ll now have to try a Caverna.
Thank you so much for the acknoledgement, I’m very new to this, loved my creation, and then find myself in sync with some one much more experienced was very good.
Best regards!