12 Cocktails of Christmas - Chocolate Blackber-rye Cocktail

Tart up a classic whisky cocktail recipe with blackberry liqueur and chocolate liqueur in place of the vermouth

Everyone knows a Manhattan cocktail - that classic combination of whisky (traditionally rye whiskey) and vermouth with bitters. Using the Manhattan as the inspiration, we decided to switch things up a little by swapping out the vermouth for a little creme de cassis which is a blackberry liqueur and a dash of creme de cacao for a chocolate-y hit. Instead of using the French version of both liqueurs, we've gone with a local home grown version of the cassis, made by the lads at Marionette in Melbourne and for the creme de cacao, the one made by Distillery Botanica. If you haven't tried the cassis, you should - it really tastes like alcoholic Ribena. In keeping with the Australian theme, we couldn't go past the Belgrove rye whisky, made in Tasmania by madcap distiller Peter Bignell (read about our visit to his distillery here). All in all, a dark chocolate berry hit of a cocktail.

Ingredients

• 60ml Belgrove rye whisky

• 20ml Marionette creme de cassis

• 10ml Distillery Botanica Koko Noir chocolate liqueur

• 2-3 dashes chocolate bitters

• Few drops of lemon juice

Stir all over ice and strain into chilled coupe glass. Garnish with cherries on a stick.