bramble and arabica

1/4 oz House Coffee Liqueur (*)
1 oz Privateer Amber Rum
1 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup
1 barspoon Massenez Crème de Mûre
1 pinch Salt
2 dash Angostura Bitters
1 Whole Egg

Shake once without ice and once with. Double strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a dusting of fine espresso coffee grounds.
(*) Coffee liqueur was made from Bully Boy White Whiskey, Tony Maws' house coffee blend containing Guatemalan, Sumatran, and a third type of coffee beans, and the house espresso roast beans. A 24-hour steep followed by straining and sweetening with demerara syrup.

After the Eastern Promise, bartender Ted Gallagher suggested a Flip that recently appeared on the menu. Ted found the drink, the Bramble and Arabica, interesting in how it played with the bitter, fruity, and acid notes found in coffee. Clearly, the Arabica part of the name referred to the coffee part of the drink, and the Bramble was a nod to the blackberry liqueur that also appears in the neo-classic Bramble drink or perhaps just where blackberries can be found. While I have not noted blackberry notes in coffee recently, I have enjoyed the blueberry flavors that appear in the Fair Trade Guatemalan beans that Harvest Co-op in Central sells.
The Bramble and Arabica greeted the nose with a dark roast coffee aroma, and the roasted flavor continued on into the rich, creamy sip. The swallow offered up the more bitter and earthy elements of the coffee along with added complexity from the Punt e Mes; finally, the drink ended with a light and lingering fruit note from some combination of the blackberry liqueur, the coffee beans' terroir, and the Punt e Mes' grape flavors. When I commented to Ted that the rum was rather subtle in the drink, he replied that it served to provide a good backbone to the drink and that it was rather complementary to the coffee flavors.