Huber's Café, Portland, Oregon, 1975.
| ½ oz · 15 ml | BRANDY | 40 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | OVERPROOF RUM | 75 % |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | COFFEE LIQUEUR | 20 % |
| 4 oz · 120 ml | HOT COFFEE | |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | WHIPPED CREAM |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 7 oz mixed with ice, 0.77 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Stirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +1.05 oz of water |
| Served | 7 + 1.05 = 8.05 oz in the glass |
| Strength | 0.77 ÷ 8.05 = 9.6 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.77 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 18 g · about 127 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM BRANDY · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
FROM COFFEE · the alertness molecule
A purine alkaloid that blocks adenosine receptors in the brain, so the tiredness signal never lands. Coffee, tea, cocoa, mate, guarana, kola: all unrelated plants, all evolved caffeine independently as an insecticide. Humans inherited a tolerance for what bugs can't handle.
FROM 151 RUM CANE · the butter note
The butter note. Wanted in oak-aged Chardonnay and certain ales (English bitter, Czech pilsner) where a controlled amount adds body; unwanted at high concentrations, where it slides into movie-theater-popcorn territory. Yeast produces it as an intermediate during fermentation and reabsorbs it during conditioning. A rushed beer that skipped its conditioning rest often carries diacetyl as an off-flavor the brewer didn't intend.
ALSO IN Daiquiri · Piña Colada · Hemingway Daiquiri · Caipirinha · Mary Pickford · El Presidente · Beachcomber · Cuba Libre
Brandy, 151 rum, coffee liqueur, hot coffee and caramelized sugar. The flaming, caramelized rim is the presentation: caramelization aromatics (furans, maltol) from sucrose carry through every sip. Huber's Café in Portland, Oregon invented the elaborate theatrical version.
Huber's Café (Portland's oldest restaurant, founded 1879) added Spanish Coffee to its menu in 1975. Third-generation owner Jim Louie developed the dramatic tableside-flambé preparation that made the drink famous. Huber's has served roughly 60,000 Spanish Coffees a year; the entire restaurant smells of caramelized sugar and 151 rum. The recipe predates Huber's (Louie said he adapted it from the Fernwood Inn in Milwaukie) but Louie's preparation style is the cultural reference.
