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Several drinks are masquerading as the Black Betty cocktail. One features blackberry liquor, another rye whiskey, and there is even a low-alcohol version that doubles as a “paleo” drink. But we have the truth and we are here to deliver it: the cocktail concocted by bartender Chris Goad at Canon, the revered Seattle spirit emporium, is the real Black Betty.
This isn’t just mixology, but alchemy; Goad’s Black Betty is concocted from four dark spirits: two amaros, Fernet-Branca and Amaro Montenegro, combined with dark rum and sherry and finished in orange zest flame. These strong flavors somehow fuse in a mysteriously beguiling dance. The Black Betty is a gorgeous late-night femme fatale, wafting into your presence as if she was always just on the cusp of your life, on the other side of that veil between the workaday world and the realm of utter enchantment.
Bar Tools
- A mixing glass
- A stirring spoon
- A paring knife
- A wooden match or a torch
To Serve: Rocks glass
Ingredients
- 1 ounce dark rum
- 1 ounce Amaro Montenegro
- 1 ounce Fernet-Branca
- 1/2 ounce sherry (preferably Lustau Pedro Ximénez)
- Flamed orange zest
To Garnish: Orange twist
How to Make
In a mixing glass filled with ice, add the dark rum, Amaro Montenegro, Fernet-Branca, and sherry. Stir. Turn the orange in your hand as you cut around either its top or bottom to produce a circular orange twist. Pull the oils from the orange zest by applying the flame for one to two seconds while squeezing the zest into a rocks glass filled with ice. The oils should momentarily flare and drop into the glass. Rub the peel along the rim and then drop it into the glass. Strain the contents of the mixing glass into the rocks glass. Serve.
How to Flame the Orange
Flaming is not complicated. A handheld flame gun is flashier, but you can just as easily use a wooden match. (You could also use a lighter, but it won’t look as cool.)
Hold the orange peel, color side down, between your thumb and index finger. Light a match or a flame gun four inches above the cocktail, and hold the orange peel, colored side down, two inches above the flame. Squeeze the peel over the flame and the oil will disperse in a fine flaming mist into the drink.
The drink can be made without the flamed orange zest. It’s already a strongly flavored cocktail, but the zest does add a beautiful final note of caramelized citrus.
Nutritional Facts and ABV
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- ABV (alcohol by volume) 25.3 %
- Calories: 231 calories
- Total carbohydrates: 22.7 grams
- Total added sugar: 1.5 grams
History
The key thing to understand about how the Black Betty cocktail came into being is its point of origin, Canon, the Seattle bar that is home to the Western Hemisphere’s largest spirit collection — over 4,000 labels and counting. Canon is considered one of the greatest bars not only in the world, but in the history of the world. Black Betty, created circa 2012, has pedigree.
FAQ
What kind of rum should I use?
Any dark rum will do, but Goslings Black Seal is preferred by many a bartender.
What does the Black Betty taste like?
It tastes like the mystery of night. Consider the two amaros. Amaro Montenegro is a traditional amaro distilled in Bologna, Italy, made from a blend of 40 botanicals, including vanilla, orange peels, and eucalyptus.
Stanislao Cobianchi, the man who first produced it back in 1885, traveled from continent to continent collecting 40 rinds, woods, seeds, flowers, fruits, citrus peels, roots, stems, and leaves. His process has been handed down secretly, like an ancient rite, for generations. An Italian writer, no doubt under this amaro’s spell, once called it “the liquor of virtues.”
And then the Black Betty wraps itself in Fernet-Branca, another Italian amaro that includes myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, and saffron. The sherry, sweet and aged, is likewise legendary. The warmth of dark rum rounds out the taste.
