Mr Black’s Mean Brew
Published 04 Mar, 2015There’s no denying we love our morning coffee fix but come afternoon we’re craving a drink of a different sort. Thankfully Mr Black is the perfect solution to this daily conundrum.
The brains behind this beautiful brew are Tom Baker and distillery expert Phillip Moore, who created Australian-made Mr Black cold drip coffee liqueur to satisfy our love of quality alcohol and delicious coffee and deliver the great taste of coffee in cocktails without the need for fresh espresso.
However, Baker explains that Mr Black was never meant to be something that everyone likes; it was created to be something that a discerning few would absolutely love.
“Rather than arrive at the lowest-common-denominator product to please everyone, we’ve created a killer beverage for those who care about what they drink.”
Mr Black is made at Distillery Botanica in Erina, New South Wales, one of the few operational distilleries in Australia. Moore uses a slow-drip method to create the liqueur rather than a common filtering process, which runs the risk of losing flavour.
The other secret to success is using the freshest coffee beans from a nearby coffee roaster in Erina. Keeping things local means the duo can tweak the flavours and work with the roasting house to produce the best beans in the business.
Just like any good success story, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the dynamic duo. It took Baker and Moore over 300 variations of the coffee liqueur and nine months to achieve the perfect blend – but it certainly paid off. The liqueur was awarded a gold medal at the International Wine & Sprits Competition in London – the highest accolade an Australian alcohol brand has ever achieved.
But this isn’t the only record Mr Black has broken; it became the first-ever Australian crowd-funded alcohol brand after using website Pozible to fund the first release of 1000 bottles. The pair felt that crowd funding was the best approach to match the tastes of the discerning coffee drinking audience. The original goal was to reach $10,000; by the end of the campaign Mr Black had reached over $26,000 in pledged funds.
Mr Black looks as good on the outside as it tastes on the inside with a sleek and simple bottle design. The point of difference lies in the hidden graphics, created by Sydney-based artist and illustrator Dale Bigeni, that are revealed as bottle is emptied.
Enjoy this delicious brew in a refreshing iced coffee
Shake 2 parts Mr Black, 1 part Absolut Vanilla Vodka, and serve over ice
You can purchase Mr Black online, at independent liquor and selected Dan Murphy’s stores.