by Katie Gutierrez, Liana Neri and Stefanie Fischer
S'mores Martini
Check back each week as we challenge a new St. Louis bartender extraordinaire to come up with a drink that fits our monthly Thirsty Thursday theme. They’re pulling out all the stops, armed with their most inventive tricks, fresh-squeezed juices, superior liquors and house-made infusions. Their creations are sure to keep your taste buds guessing. This month, in honor of the fall foliage beginning to change colors, we asked bartenders to create for us their best fall-inspired cocktail.
The Bartender: Mike Belfield
The Bar: Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, 1915 Park Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63104
The Challenge: Create for us your best fall-inspired cocktail to get us ready for fall.
The Drink: S’mores Martini and Grown up Mocha
Ingredients:
S’mores Martini (COLD)
Three Olives S’mores Vodka
homemade dark chocolate liqueur
homemade vanilla bean ice cream
chocolate stick
marshmallow
chocolate stick
Grown Up Mocha (HOT)
2 shots of Kaldis’ Espresso 700
homemade dark chocolate liqueur
steamed milk foam
cocoa powder
Fall was certainly in the air yesterday, and Baileys’ Chocolate Bar couldn’t have been a better fit to start this month’s theme of fall-inspired spirits. As soon as we told the General Manager Mike Belfield our theme for this month, he got to work right away whipping up one of Baileys’ special menu items, the S’mores Martini. Mike blended Three Olives S’mores Vodka, a homemade dark chocolate liqueur and homemade vanilla bean ice cream together to create a refreshingly cool martini. He described it as a “comfortable, indoor campfire type of drink, and we couldn’t agree more. The ice cream added just the right amount of sweetness and cream to this decadent fall treat.
Mike didn’t stop there. He also made for us a Baileys’ Grown Up Mocha, a sure-fire way to warm your bones on those brisk autumn evenings. Mike layered a double shot of Kaldi’s signature blend Espresso 700 with the house dark chocolate liqueur and topped it all off with steamed milk foam and cocoa powder. This cocktail was sexy, rich and described as “the perfect date drink.” The first thing we all tasted after sampling the mocha was the Espresso 700, then came the smooth finish of the liqueur mixed with the foam.
Grown Up Mocha
What’s your favorite drink? Carbonated cucumber water that you can find at Baileys’ Range.
What’s the weirdest request you’ve gotten?
Well, writing “Happy Birthday” for people in chocolate on a plate is pretty strange.
Someone orders ________ and you automatically know they have no idea what they’re talking about.
When someone comes up and orders “a light beer.”
