Covfefe on the Rocks Cocktail

A new cocktail for when you absolutely, positively need to Tweet overnight.

Covfefe on the Rocks

By Bill Lau | Potable Pastime

A Potable Pastime original cocktail recipe.

My wife challenged me to take this week’s latest Twitter blow-up and turn it into a drink. It needed to be cold yet a little spicy, and since the Tweet in question was made after midnight, I figured it needed a keep-you-awake component. Alrighty then, challenge accepted!

Keep-you-awake is pretty obvious – coffee liqueur, or why not just KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and go with cold-brew coffee? So that’s one component down. (Besides, I rarely play with coffee in cocktails, and as far as I can recall have never had one with cold-brew, just after-dinner hot coffee type drinks. Which are wonderful in their own right, but – cold. Needs to be cold, man.)

So then on to spicy. Not a big fan of cinnamon-hot; my instinct is to go in the chile pepper direction. Now I’d seen Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur at the local liquor shop a couple of years ago, and it certainly intrigued (being a chile-head and all), but I’d not been sure what to do with it, and was too busy playing around with Tiki drinks at the time to feel like investing in a bottle. But now…well, I think I have an excuse to run to the store and acquire a bottle!

Right then, back from the liquor store with said liqueur in hand, and some reposado tequila to boot. (Follow my logic here – chile pepper liqueur from Mexico – gee, what should we mix with that? Tequila, duh! Except – something made me consider reposado instead of my usual blanco; the thought of the more rounded and slightly mellower aspect seemed like it would be right at home. ) Oh, and some cold-brew coffee from America’s ubiquitous coffee purveyor, no ice, straight up. Now we’re talkin’!

OK, so ingredients in hand, all I need to do is determine the optimum ratio. I had a starting point in mind, so it seemed like a mere matter of trial and error to home in on the final recipe. And lucky you, Dear Reader, I was prepared to go the distance to that end. So, after exhaustive experimentation (no, really; my brain and palate are both just worn out from all that extensive alchemical experimentation) I’ve arrived at the finish line, ready to share my recipe. (Oh, and I should remind you to bear in mind that I tend to like strongish drinks. Just sayin’.)

I have to say that I really like the Ancho Reyes. It has an awesome ancho chile flavor, with some very nice afterburn. And I do think it integrates beautifully with coffee and tequila. I look forward to playing with it in other drinks in the future.

So without further ado, here’s my original cocktail recipe. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts. Cheers!

RECIPE

• 1 & 1/2 oz reposado tequila (I chose Espolón)
• 1 oz Ancho Reyes ancho chile liqueur
• 2 oz cold-brew coffee (plain, unsweetened and undiluted)

1. Shake ingredients vigorously with ice for 20-30 seconds.
2. Strain into rocks glass filled with ice.
3. Garnish with a quarter of a  fresh jalapeño or a whole serrano pepper (or a Cheetoh if you’re so inclined!) and serve.

Variation (thanks to reader comments): Sub vodka (Russian, please!) for the tequila.

Disclosure: The author has received no reimbursement or compensation for this article. All brand references and remarks are those of the author alone.