Post #780044 by Early Landed Larry on Mon, Sep 25, 2017 2:35 PM

We made two Black Magics on Friday, both based on the August '17 recipe. I used a mix of Myers, OFTD, Appleton Reserve and just a quarter oz of Velier 151 Unaged Jamaican for the rum base.

My wife does not like even trace amounts of anise flavour, so we made one with it included in the Mariano's Mix,, and one without. (I also didn't use Pernod, but i watered down Jade 1901 absinthe 1:1 and added a half teaspoon of that to the drink that did have it - I'm guessing this is about right as it's a much stronger taste than Pernod).

The drink with the absinthe was better! The other one was good, but it just lacked something undefinable, like a meal without salt. As an added bonus, we decided that although you missed the anise when it wasn't there, there wasn't really a detectable anise note in the compete drink (as such), and my wife also preferred it! There's such a symphony of strong flavours here, i think that even absinthe, albeit in tiny quantities, becomes part of the the ensemble rather than dominating. The bitter coffee backbone must help with this.

These were delicious - although I need to wait for a party to have a whole one to myself again, the coffee and the overproof in combination get me bouncing off the ceiling. Going to try the Mutiny next!