Rock, stock & barrel – Black Rock’s guide to ageing cocktails
It’s time we all embraced the ageing process. Let’s face it – it works wonders for wine and whisky, and now, excitingly, we’re seeing the rise of the aged, pre-made cocktail. But you’d be hard pressed to find someone who does this quite as creatively as Black Rock whisky bar.
This intimate venue opened earlier this year in London’s Moorgate, and at its heart is the rustic bar constructed from half of an old oak tree. A great place to congregate and sample your way through the 250-strong whisky menu, yes, but actually, it’s what’s inside that counts. This hollowed-out trunk contains two channels – one for ageing their table whisky, and the other, where they create their signature cherry bourbon cocktail.
Making the drink is half the fun: once the glass bar-top is removed, botanicals including star anise, nutmeg and sticks of cinnamon are scattered along the channels of the hollowed wood, followed by sweet cherries and sugar, before bottles of rye bourbon are upturned and emptied – in wonderfully reckless abandonment – over the top. Once the glass is replaced it’s left for a couple of weeks to infuse and develop before being released via tap to lucky drinkers.
Aged cocktails make a lot of sense: not just because they allow the flavours to develop, but having a tipple you’ve prepared weeks ago is much easier when you’re entertaining guests. (Forget faffing about with a shaker!) Get yourself a good barrel and you can create something special to serve straight from the barrel for your next soirée or to decant into bottles to take to a party – quickly proving that with ageing, comes great wisdom indeed.
Choosing a barrel
Arnaud Chevalier of Black Rock explains two main things to consider when choosing your barrel:
1) The type of wood used – it could be a new or used barrel – will dramatically affect the flavour. With new wood you will get more oak, while a used barrel will take the characteristic of the previous spirit aged in it. (Ex-bourbon will give sweet vanilla notes, while ex-sherry barrels bring some dark stone fruit flavours or nutty flavours.)
2 The time you leave it in a specific type of wood. If the wood has a finer grain it will take longer to age your spirit but it will be better quality, whilst the bigger the barrel the longer it will take to flavour your spirit. How many times a barrel has been used will also have an effect – the more times it has been used the more flavour it will share. But never leave it too long, as this might overpower your drinks – taste it as much as you can and bottle it when you feel it is best.
You can buy barrels online – find new ones at lovebrewing.co.uk – or speak to your local distillery.
Black Rock’s Cherry River cocktail
Black Rock use Bulleit Rye for this cocktail, which has a diverse, spiced flavour profile, but if you can’t get hold of it, you could always make it with another bourbon you like.
Serves 20
1 x 70cl bottle of Bulleit Rye
300g morello sour cherries
4 whole star anise
3 cinnamon quills
1 whole nutmeg
5g cassia
30g caster sugar
1 Combine all the ingredients into your barrel. Set aside for a minimum of two weeks to let the ingredients macerate, shaking once every three days.
2 Serve from the barrel or drain through a sieve into a bottle or jug, discarding all the solids, and serve!