Liquid Ember: Make our QT Chocolate Cocktail at Home

A love letter to the Southern solstice and ode to alpine adventures, Ember now takes liquid form. Our Venue Manager, Marine, has dreamt up this smoky Old Fashioned with a decidedly QT twist – none other than the Ember chocolate bar we created in collaboration with Ocho Chocolate. She has shared the recipe for you to make at home. The catch? You’ll need to get a bar from QT Queenstown on your next visit. It’s well worth the trip.

The Chocolate
Creamy single-origin milk chocolate melded with vanilla bean, cinnamon spice and the crunch of smoked caramel to create a quintessentially Queenstown taste.  

The Cocktail
Marine begins by combining housemade cinnamon syrup with smoky Laphroaig whisky. To accentuate the notes of vanilla in our Ember chocolate bar, she adds Monkey Shoulder scotch and a splash of chocolate bitters to leave a sweet and velvety linger. Stirred over ice, Liquid Ember is served over a large ice cube and garnished with a shard of tempered Ember chocolate. 

Liquid Ember

1/2c caster sugar

1/2c water

3-4 cinnamon quills

30ml of Laphroaig whisky

30ml of Monkey shoulder whisky

2 or 3 dashes of chocolate bitters

1. Start by making a cinnamon simple syrup, combining equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Infuse with cinnamon quills. Remove quills and cool the syrup before using.
2. To a mixing glass, add both whiskies, bitters and cinnamon syrup. Stir over ice.
3. Pour in a whiskey glass, over a large cube of ice.
4. Garnish with a shard of QT x Ocho Ember Chocolate or dehydrated orange dipped in melted Ember chocolate.

Ember is available to purchase at reception. To learn more about fair trade, single origin chocolate, visit www.ocho.co.nz