When it comes to creating chocolate-flavoured cocktails, your mind might first wander to a Chocolate Martini, perhaps a chocolate twist on a White Russian or even a boozy hot chocolate drink. But chocolate cocktails don’t have to be super-sweet and they can actually be rather sophisticated if London’s bars are anything to go by. Why not sip on a chocolate Champagne cocktail, an Old Fashioned flavoured with cacao or a riff on a Manhattan?
The recipes we’ve gathered from a selection of London’s best bars range from retro classics like a Grasshopper from Irish bar Homeboy to a modern take on the Old Fashioned from Soho’s top Sri-Lankan spot Paradise. There’s something for fans of a longer drink too – Abajo’s Something Bubbly pairs a chocolate-and-hazelnut cocktail base with a Champagne top. Some of the below recipes require a bit more skill, patience and home-bartending equipment, while others will just require a dash or two of chocolate bitters. Keep reading for creative takes on chocolate cocktails from the best of the UK’s capital.
Chocolate cocktail recipes from top London bars
Homeboy’s Grasshopper
- 20ml Jameson Whiskey
- 20ml creme de cacao
- 20ml creme de menthe
- 10ml double cream
- Shake in a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice cubes, then strain into a Nick and Nora glass or coupe.
Find out how to visit Homeboy here
Paradise’s Miso Ghee and Chocolate Old Fashioned
- 50ml miso and ghee fat-washed Buffalo Trace bourbon*
- 10ml Kithul syrup (or maple syrup)
- 3 dashes of Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
- orange peel, to garnish
- Fill a tumbler with ice, pour in the ingredients and stir with a cocktail stirrer until combined.
- Garnish with orange peel.
*To make the bourbon
- 700ml Buffalo Trace bourbon
- 170g ghee
- 15g miso paste
- Heat the bourbon, ghee and miso on a low temperature in a saucepan on the hob until everything melts together.
- Freeze the mixture in a container until the ghee and miso have solidified.
- Strain the mixture through a coffee filter.
Find out how to visit Paradise here
Abajo’s Something Bubbly
- 20ml Drambuie Liqueur
- 10ml Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur
- chocolate bitters
- 165ml Champagne
- Fill a highball glass with a handful of ice cubes, then mix in the Drambuie and Frangelico with a cocktail stirrer until combined. Top with ice if necessary.
- Pour in the Champagne and wait for it to settle.
- Finish with at least two dashes of chocolate bitters.
Find out how to visit Abajo here
INO’s Cacao au Rum
- 50 ml barrel-aged cocoa-infused rum*
- 10 ml simple syrup
- 2 drops cherry bitters
- mango slice, to garnish
- Add a handful of ice into a mixing glass with the infused rum, syrup, and cherry bitters, then mix well.
- Strain the cocktail into a tumbler filled with ice and garnish with a mango slice.
*To make the barrel-aged cocoa-infused rum
- 700ml Plantation Rum
- 70g cacao beans
- In a vacuum bag, seal the rum and cacao beans.
- Immerse the vacuum bag in a water bath and cook for 40 minutes at 64C.
- Then, remove the bag from the water bath and strain the rum through a j-cloth.
- Once strained, cool it down in the fridge.
- Transfer the infused rum in an oak barrel and keep it for at least two weeks.
Find out how to visit INO here
Sette’s Kiss and Say Goodbye
- 40ml Speyside whisky
- 30 ml bourbon
- 20 ml sweet vermouth
- 10ml Barolo Chinato
- 2 dash chocolate bitters
- orange peel, to garnish
- Stir all the ingredients with a handful of ice cubes in a cocktail beaker or shaker.
- Strain and serve in a chilled, cold Nick and Nora glass or coupe glass.
- Garnish with orange peel.
Find out how to visit Sette here
