Zhuzhed-Up Chocolate Martini

Pip Hanson

Calling the Cortada at cocktail lounge Bar Mara the “house chocolate martini” would not be totally wrong, concedes Pip Hanson, bar manager. But the characterization does a disservice to the complexity of both flavor and technique. On the flavor side, “Extra añejo agave, cacao and amaro create a dark, rich flavor with bitterness similar to semi-sweet chocolate but with an herbal vegetal complexity,” says Hanson. On the texture side, the drink features what he calls “possibly a world first”: espresso made from single-source cacao beans.

“Espresso is hard to make consistently well due to variables like grind size, water temperature, humidity and volume. We had to juggle those factors and figure out how to get the most out of the cacao beans, which contain a fatty wax that can gum up equipment,” Hanson explains. Enter the pressure cooker. The beans are ground with water until they are “espresso fine,” then cooked under high pressure for 30 minutes before being strained through coffee filters. The fat renders directly from the cacao beans and emulsifies, producing a nectar that looks and smells like hot chocolate. “It doesn’t taste like it though,” Hanson says. “Not until we add a dash of Cognac, rich Italian amaro and coconut milk for cream.” The result resembles a cortado, a flat white-adjacent coffee drink, but with a softer, more feminine lean that ultimately inspired its Cortada name.

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