Mr Black is an incredibly delicious cold-brew coffee liqueur which is created (relatively) local to us on the Central Coast of NSW. We’ve been enjoying it for years – but it has really started to gain popularity through Australia and internationally.
Recently they’ve been running tours at the distillery where they create everything – so we decided to check out!
Distillery Botanica is tucked away in Erina on the NSW Central Coast – it was about a 3 hour drive for us from Wollongong (including a stop off to pick up some friends on the way). The distillery itself is lovely – with some nice gardens (including the market garden where they grow their botanicals), a Cafe/Bar, and Distillery Door for those who want to sample the goods…
The tour itself starts at a beautiful Airstream that has been done-up to become a portable bar. COVID19 has meant they have no events to take it to – so it remains onsite (for now) at the distillery. We also got to visit the work area (shed) where the coffee is roasted (1.5t a week in a 17kg roaster), and the liqueur is mixed and bottled.
We were ably hosted and guided by Martin Hudak – Brand Ambassador for Mr Black (grounded in Australia due to COVID) and owner of Sydney bar Maybe Sammy. His coffee and cocktail knowledge was fantastic – and he certainly had us entertained as we learnt about how everything comes together.
We got to shake our own Espresso Martinis, and also had a tasting of the different Single Origin (bean) varieties of the liqueur they have on offer. It was pretty astounding to taste the difference between the beans – even when concentrated and turned into a liqueur.
All in all – a fantastic day! I’d recommend it except we were there for the last tour of the current run. Instead – I suggest you head and buy some Mr Black for yourself… It is delicious.
