Herencia De Plata Licor de Café
Origin: Mexico / 30% / Price: ca. 35€
A little déjà vu, haven't we seen this before? That's right, today we're talking about the Herencia de Plata Licor de Café, which was one of my highlights at the exciting mezcal tasting organized by Aromas Of Mexico and Niagara a little over a year ago. You can catch up on the report here.
AoM approached us and asked if we would like to test and discuss 2–3 products, we agreed because of our positive experience at that event and basically insisted that this one had to be included. If we didn't already have 5 coffee liqueurs at home, it would have already been here for a long time anyway. We could still remember the enthusiasm at that event and, according to the importer, it is also their bestseller in the range. You can guess that fact from going online here in Germany, as the entire Herencia de Plata range (including the pure tequilas) comes from the house of Tequilas del Senor and forms a kind of sub-brand or premium range. Their tequilas under the del Senor label are very rarely found in Germany (at AoM of course you will find them). Herencia de Plata (the tequila) is more likely to be found here and there, but the coffee liqueur itself, on the other hand, can be found in numerous online stores. Quality simply prevails.
On the outside, the product looks quite impressive, a heavy bottle, nice and bulbous, it feels very good to the touch. The same applies to the wooden stopper, which in turn is attached to a screw cap, so no worries about breaking the cork, practical. The design naturally relies on one or two clichés, gold and black, typical colors associated with coffee, somewhat ornate. In our opinion, however, it stops just a small step before getting too kitschy, especially the fonts are well-chosen and bring some clarity. Good product design, looks great in any home bar.
But what really counts are the inner values. The data sounds promising even before tasting, with no added flavorings (which over 90% of coffee liqueurs use at least as an addition), but pure natural coffee, which in turn comes only from Mexico (Arabica variety). Beautiful 30% volume of alcohol for mixing, which you will also notice positively later in the tasting, and then it is also based purely on their 100% Agave Blanco Tequila. So, concerning the data, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. Just as a comparison: Perhaps the most widely used and best-known “craft” coffee liqueur in the world, which has revived the genre as a high-quality interpretation, Mr. Black, has only 23% for the normal version.
Our verdict after (re)tasting it? The memories of the previous tasting and the numerous international awards are accurate and more than deserved. Powerful, but at no time alcoholic, beautifully earthy and yet not so strikingly atypical that it could not be used everywhere as a standard coffee liqueur. The latter is of course very important, this is not a niche product for drinks that already use agave spirits anyway and additionally use coffee liqueurs in the recipe. It really works in any combination and any spirit in that role. It plays a lot with the additional earthiness and nuttiness from the cooked agave, which doesn't come across as vegetal or anything like that as in some more pronounced tequilas or mezcals. One of the best coffee liqueurs we've ever tasted, period. We have tested numerous drinks with it, such as the Coffee Collins for an easy, refreshing long drink, the classic Revolver for something dry and stirred or the exciting Squeaky Wheel, perfect for the tequila based liqueur with mezcal as a partner. More to follow in the near future.
Nose:
As always with liqueurs with a specific theme, the nose naturally focuses on the main note: wonderful, aromatic, smooth and yet intense coffee with a not too exaggerated roast, deep mocha notes, fresh cocoa beans, earthy, cooked agave behind it and already in the nose a heartiness and volume, impressions of allspice and clove are also present
Taste:
Hearty, intense and spicy from the start, it spreads voluminously, dark mocha flavors, finely roasted coffee beans, toasted oak, cooked agave and the allspice, clove and some cinnamon are there again, in the background in between also some roasted coconut flakes
Finish:
Toasted coconut flakes, cooked agave, mocha, long, the spice notes also linger nicely with a noticeable warmth
The bottle was provided by Aromas of Mexico, thank you.
