Distillery: Mr Black

Origin: Sydney, Australia

The Story of Mr Black: A Coffee Liqueur With A Kick

For many Australians, coffee transcends the simple status of a morning beverage, and is almost regarded as a religion, a lifeblood, and a source of national pride. Given its prominence among Australians, it was perhaps inevitable that out of a country of coffee lovers, a new brand of craft coffee liqueur would eventually emerge.

Enter Mr Black, an award-winning coffee liqueur that is a blend of 100% cold brewed Arabica coffee, Australian wheat vodka and cane sugar.

Mr Black's founder Tom Baker

Mr Black first got its start in 2013, when designer Tom Baker teamed up with distiller Philip Moore of Distillery Botanica to create a liqueur that would pay homage to the much-beloved caffeinated beverage. It started with a question: how can we bring Australian coffee culture into the night? By 2015, Baker was able to secure funding through Diageo’s accelerator programme Distill Venture, and between 2017 and 2021, Mr Black became the fast growing coffee liqueur brand by volume, expanding distribution to over 20 countries.

Known for its bold flavour payoff (which the brand attributes to their use of actually good coffee that they roast themselves) and some seriously eye-catching labels (don’t forget, Baker did come from a design background after all), Mr Black has arguably been giving older coffee liqueur brands like Kahlua a run for their money.

But the story isn’t over yet. Perhaps one of the biggest validation of the explosive growth ahead of Mr Black was its acquisition by Diageo in 2022, which is sure to inject considerable firepower to expand the brand’s product and distribution capabilities in the coming years. One thing’s for sure, the brand’s caffeine kick hasn’t worn off!

How It’s Made

Today, Mr Black coffee liqueurs are produced at the Mr Black Roastery and Distillery on the Central Coast in NSW. The process starts in Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea and Brazil, where 100% arabica beans are sourced direct from the growers by the brand. Once shipped to Australia, the specialty coffee beans are roasted by Master Roaster Detlef Mohr and his team. The roasted beans are then steeped in cold water and undergo a cold extraction process that create a rich, thick, low-acidity coffee that is compatible with alcohol. This coffee is then blended with neutral Australian wheat spirit and cane sugar by Master Distiller Philip Moore.

Master Roaster Detlef Mohr and Master Distiller Philip Moore (Image Source: Mr Black)

The choice to use a neutral Australian wheat spirit was intentional. Baker shared that this was chosen so it wouldn’t carry any taste, letting the coffee notes shine through. For Mr Black, “the alcohol is the carrier, it dissolves all those great flavours and oils in the coffee. It’s the star of the show in that it bonds with all these great flavours and oils but it’s not where [the] flavours come from. It’s very much the medium, not the message.”

How It Tastes

Expect Mr Black coffee liqueur to carry bold espresso flavours and slightly dark chocolate notes. Spices like cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg can also be picked up but make no mistake however, the coffee notes maintain prominence. You may find that Mr Black liqueurs tends to carry an earthier, robust character with slightly less sweetness than other coffee liqueurs out on the market. The brand doesn’t shy away from an emphasis on using real roasted coffee. In fact, Mr Black has ten times more caffeine but half as much sugar compared to other coffee liqueurs currently in market.

What To Try from Mr Black

We’d recommend getting your hands on their core product, the Mr Black Coffee Liqueur. But apart from those, Mr Black has since expanded its line-up to include a range of other offerings and limited edition releases. Here’s a few that we’re eyeing:

• Mr Black Rum Barrel Coffee Liqueur 

A true meeting of Australian minds! For this limited edition release, Mr Black collaborated with Australian rum distillery Bundaberg to create a distinctively Australian treat. For this collaboration, Mr Black coffee liqueur was rested for three months in ex-Port and Sherry, European and American Oak casks that were previously used to age Bundaberg rums. It was subsequently also blended with Bundaberg Master Distillers’ Blended Edition Rum, which won the World’s Best Rum in 2016. The result is a “Christmas in a bottle”, with notes of coffee, brown sugar, raisins, chocolate and Christmas spices.

• Mr Black Coffee Amaro

Inspired by Italy’s after-dinner drink tradition, this bottle fuses the original Mr Black coffee liqueur with another classic liqueur – the Bitter Amaro. Botanical distillates, made from local grapefruit, oranges and gentian, are blended with Mr Black cold brew coffee to produce a flavourful and slightly bitter blend of espresso, citrus and cacao.

• Mr Black Mezcal Cask Coffee Liqueur

Made in collaboration with Ilegal Mezcal in Oaxaca, this bottle contains a limited edition batch of Mr Black that had been aged for three months during the Australian summer within casks that used to store mezcal. A touch of Ilegal Joven Mezcal was then added to the aged Mr Black to create a final blend of nutmeg, spice and agave to Mr Black’s trademark espresso flavour. Expect even some slight smokiness that adds complexity to your typical coffee liqueur experience.

For more ideas on how to drink Mr Black, read our liqueur lowdown series here.

Happy sipping! 

@lotusroot518