04 Apr Lyon Liqueurs: Coffee Rum + Toreador Express Cocktail Recipe

Lyon Liqueurs: Coffee Rum

A while ago, Lyon Distilling, a rum maker on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, was kind enough to provide us with samples of most of their products. We had such a good time tasting, experimenting with, and writing about their excellent and interesting rums that we had to leave their liqueurs for another time. To our great delight, we finally had the chance to return to Lyon and its liqueurs this week.

Today, we tasted Lyon’s Coffee Rum, and it’s amazing!

Coffee runs in both our families. In one of our families, all day long there was always a pot of coffee brewing; and the most important rite of passage to adulthood was not first communion, but when you were allowed to grab a mug and join in on the day-long coffee consumption. For the other’s family, ordering at Starbuck’s is an art form. One of our favorite places to write these blog posts is in the neighborhood Italian espresso bar.

Both of us are also fans of cheap coffee liqueur. We love the more prominent molasses flavor in cheap coffee liqueur knockoffs, and the price point. Since it seems like actual coffee flavor is an afterthought in the name brands as well as the knockoffs, why not buy the cheaper and more interesting of the two choices?

Well, Lyon has presented an interesting alternative: a coffee liqueur that actually tastes like good coffee. Lyon infuses their base rum with fresh ground coffee from a local roaster. Then, instead of adding more sugar, they add a pinch of chocolate–an inspired choice. The result is a deep, smooth, pleasantly bitter, and not overly sweet liqueur with the distinct flavor of fresh made coffee. One sip and we were in love. It’s the liqueur we were raised to love.

We immediately put it to use in this coffee version of a Toreador, a drink which usually involves tequila and creme de cacao.

Toreador Express Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 oz brandy–we used as always, Maison Rouge, our favorite VSOP Cognac for mixing. A VS Cognac would probably be sufficient, if you aren’t lucky enough to have Maison Rouge available to you.
• 1 oz coffee liqueur–we, of course, used Lyon’s
• 1 egg white

Instructions

• Shake all 3 ingredient with ice for as long as you can possibly sustain it.
• Strain into a cocktail glass.