Two adult chocolate treats for Halloween
Often when we think of Halloween, we think of it as primarily a holiday for kids. But why should they have all the fun? And more importantly, why should they get all the treats?
According to a study conducted by alcohol.org, Halloween ranks as the fifth highest volume drinking holiday in the United States, behind the Fourth of July but ahead of Cinco de Mayo. Other studies rank it as high as fourth. So maybe this isn’t such a new idea?
It seems particularly important to point out here that drinking and driving never mix, and Halloween is no exception. But if you, as an adult, are going to partake responsibly, then we have some good news for you!
Chocolate is the quintessential go-to treat on Halloween. Cacao, an indigenous plant native to the Americas, like its equally bitter American cousin, coffee, improves with the introduction of sugar. How much sugar has always been the key. Fun fact: White chocolate is technically all the other stuff in chocolate — cocoa butter, milk products and sugar — without the necessary cacao solids that define “real” chocolate. Percentages always list the cacao content, not the other stuff, so if your chocolate is 30% cacao, it’s 70% something else. But that’s an argument for the purists. In a particular irony, during the manufacture of chocolate from cacao, the product is processed into something called “chocolate liquor.” This product has no alcohol in it and refers to a more antique usage of the word “liquor,” meaning “liquid.” That usage just seems mean-spirited to me.
To rectify that situation — pun intended — two local businesses have risen to the challenge: Sausalito Liquor Co. with their second-year release of a new and improved Unsinkable chocolate liqueur (42 proof, $38), and Moylan’s Distilling Co.’s first-ever Next Level Chocolate Whisky (80 proof, $55).
“Consumers loved the chocolate liqueur last year just as it was. And a lot of bartenders were making cocktails with it,” said Scott Jampol, the founder of Sausalito Liquor Co. “But they wanted even more potency to the chocolate flavor so that it could mix well into cocktails.”
To that end, Jampol has used 50% more cacao per ounce in his chocolate liqueur than he did last year. And he varied the cacao as well, using a combination of 70% Ghanaian cacao and 30% from Peru. (Last year’s was 100% Ghanaian.)
“We like that little bit fruitier, brighter chocolate vibe that Peru had. But we didn’t want to solely do that, because we love that kind of deep, dark chocolate that Ghana brings. Both of those changes just make it even easier to use behind a bar,” he said.
Like last year’s original liqueur, Jampol again uses TCHO Chocolate, a single-origin chocolate maker that was originally based in San Francisco but has since moved production to Berkeley. TCHO’s chocolates feature prominently in the gourmet chocolate aisles of many high-end grocery stores.
“When I first wanted to do this, I wanted to find another Bay Area company to partner with,” Jampol said. “Even before we launched Sausalito Liquor Co., I pitched them on the idea, and they had worked with breweries before, but they had never worked for the spirits business. But they loved the idea, and they gave us some time with their chief chocolatier. He was very helpful.”
Launched last year, Jampol originally only made 1,000 bottles of the liqueur.
“It sold out really quickly, and we were really thinking about it as a holiday-only product. But we saw a really good uptake in bars that were using it in all kinds of cocktails that they wanted to maintain on a year-round basis. So, we’ve brought it back this year, and it’ll be a year-round product for us,” he said. “It’s a funny category, because most people don’t think about chocolate liqueur, and then once you taste them on it, they’re like, ‘Oh, my goodness, I need that!”
Moylan’s Distilling Co., a subset of Stillwater Spirits in Petaluma, took a different path to arrive at their chocolate whiskey.
“My partner Don Payne designed this product to have a big, bold dark chocolate taste,” said Brendan Moylan of Stillwater Spirits and the former proprietor of both the Marin Brewing Co. in Larkspur and Moylan’s Brewery and Restaurant in Novato. “Make no mistake, this is a full-strength, 80-proof, 8-year-old port barrel-finished rye whiskey.”
His Resistance Rye, also a port barrel-finished rye, did take the gold medal in its category at this year’s U.S. Open Whiskey and Spirits Championship.
“We infused the whiskey with cocoa nibs from Volo Chocolate of Healdsburg to create these intense and powerful flavors, which will enhance your favorite chocolate cocktails,” he said.
The port finishing of the whiskey marries exceptionally well with chocolate. (Sonoma Portworks is located right next door to Stillwater Spirits in Petaluma.) In fact, port and chocolate are a classic pairing. Sonoma Portworks also makes their own Deco, a delicious chocolate-infused California port.
Moylan’s Chocolate Whisky is a revelation to both the whiskey people and the chocolate people. We’re not talking “notes” of chocolate here, because its rich dark chocolate flavor literally grabs you by the throat with that undeniable whiskey throat burn. Its limited release makes it hard to find, but well worth it, just like any other great whiskey.
“It is perfect for making all your chocolate cocktails,” Moylan said. “My favorite cocktail is the Cocoa Irish. It is basically a takeoff on an Irish coffee improved with the addition of our chocolate whiskey. Let’s just say it takes my morning latte to a whole new place.”
Whichever choice you make, these two chocolate selections will eliminate the trick and amplify the treat in your adult Halloween.
For more information, or to find out where to purchase, go to moylansdistilling.com and sausalitoliquor.com.