Make 'The Cure' From Boring Coffee Drinks At Home

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Nov 29, 2013 7:15PM

Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist

Now that we're starting to enter the colder months our libation choices veer towards the hearty: thicker beers like stouts, barleywines and porters, hot toddies and coffee cocktails.

An Irish coffee now and then is nice but Lorna Biljian of Three Aces created "The Cure" as a nod to the Chicago restaurant and bar's Little Italy location and "for fellow bartenders and customers who are in desperate need of caffeine and a little hair of the dog."

One difference between "The Cure" and other coffee cocktails is it's served cold. Biljian uses cold-pressed espresso. Cold brewing coffee (the process of steeping coarse-ground coffee in room temperature or cold water) reduces the acidity levels in the coffee and gives it a sweeter flavor profile. Biljan then adds dark rum, the bitter digestif Fernet Branca, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and some simple syrup. "Carpano is lush and complimentary and I firmly believe the hype about Fernet Branca's medicinal qualities," Biljan said.

"The Cure" is also a nod to Biljan's collection of The Cure records at home. The end result is a coffee cocktail with rich espresso flavors with subtle floral notes, a hint of mint and an intense orange aroma—"sure to bring you back to life," Biljan said. You can make "The Cure"at home. Here's the recipe.

"The Cure" From Lorna Biljan of Three Aces, Chicago, Ill.

Ingredients
3 ounces cold brewed espresso (Three Aces uses Dark Matter 's Unicorn Blood espresso blend)
.75 ounce Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum
.75 ounce Carpano Antica
.5 ounce simple syrup
.25 ounce Fernet Branca
Orange twist

Shake all ingredients with ice. Single strain into a snifter. Finish with orange oil and discard the peel.