Described as “unlike anything else on the market,” Mr Black (no period) is a new coffee liqueur made with cold brew Arabica coffee and Australian wheat-based vodka. The big sell here is that coffee liqueurs tend to be incredibly sweet, but Mr Black uses “half the sugar and ten times the coffee of old-world liqueurs,” making it “the cold brew liqueur for coffee purists.”

And sure enough, it does drink more like coffee than your typical mass-market liqueur. The nose is pungent with dark roast coffee beans, and it’s much less sweet than even that lead-up would allude to — nutty and toasty, with a hint of gunpowder. The palate is bittersweet, with intense dark chocolate and significant coffee ground notes, giving it an almost chalky, grainy espresso character. The finish is cleaner, however, and lightly sweet but filled with secondary flavor notes — cherries and dates, coconut, and some vanilla at the end.

While other artisinal coffee liqueurs have hit the market of late, Mr Black does indeed fill a niche by dialing back the sugar and letting the coffee speak more clearly for itself. It may be overwhelming for some — and for others, just the way they like it.

50 proof.

A- / $40 / mrblack.co [BUY IT NOW FROM CASKERS] [BUY IT NOW FROM TOTAL WINE]

Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur

$40

9

Rating

9.0/10

BUY IT NOW