The Absolute Best Type Of Chocolate To Use In Cocktails

As popular as chocolate is as a flavor, it's a surprisingly rare ingredient in cocktails. Sure there are mudslides and a few other chocolate cocktails people know, but it's association with dessert and overly sweet drinks has seen it cast out of most serious cocktail conversations. That's a shame because chocolate is an incredible ingredient. High quality chocolate and cacao are overflowing with wonderful, complex flavors that can be nutty, floral, earthy, and fruity, delivering great depth to many cocktail recipes. And it doesn't need to be sweet either. Just consider chocolate's staring role in mole negro to understand just how rich and versatile it is. But making chocolate drinks work means picking the right styles, so we spoke with mixologist Lynnette Marrero at New York Bartender Week to ask the best kind of chocolate to use in cocktails.

Marrero told us that one key is making sure the chocolate stays balanced in the drink, and for her cocktails she says, "I like to use high-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa or higher) for its intense flavor and low sugar content which integrates well without overpowering." Seventy percent cocoa chocolate is usually also labeled bittersweet, bringing just the mix of cacao taste and sugar to the mix. And while using high-quality chocolate is important, there are a lot of great chocolate brands on store shelves these days, so finding the perfect one for your cocktail should be easy.

Chocolate can be added to cocktails in a number of ways, including chocolate bitters and alcoholic creme de cacao, but Lynette Marrero likes to experiment with other forms as well. "I sometimes use high quality chocolate powders," she explains, "but I also love using cacao nibs to infuse chocolate aromas into other base spirits and making syrups." Infusing alcohol with flavors is quite simple, and you can do it with cacao by just mixing in a quarter cup of nibs into a few cups of your preferred spirit, and letting it sit. After a few days give it a taste to see how strong the flavor has gotten, and you let it sit another day or two if you want more chocolate notes.

Whether you infuse alcohol, or just add some shaved or melted chocolate directly to a drink, there are lots of great chocolate cocktail recipes to start with using Marrero's recommendations. Chocolate-infused bourbon can be used in classic cocktails like a mint julep or old fashioned, while chocolate syrups can be used to sweeten margaritas or even old-school recipes that use creme de cacao like the grasshopper. Maybe the best way to experiment with your new chocolate is in a simple chocolate martini, where the straightforward mixture and neutral vodka will let the cacao flavors stand out. You may not want your chocolate to overpower your cocktail, but you still want it to taste like chocolate.