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Above Board's The Empire Strikes Bax

Above Board, a new cocktail bar in Collingwood with an ex-Bar Americano bartender at the helm, share the recipe for The Empire Strikes Bax, a coffee-spiked riff on a Negroni.

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Above Board cocktail The Empire Strikes Bax
The Empire Strikes Bax, a coffee-spiked riff on a Negroni, is a drink that's sure to reawaken the Force. Bartender and Star Wars enthusiast Hayden Lambert created the cocktail while working at Matthew Bax's famed Bar Americano in Melbourne, and it stuck. Now the cocktail - as much a digestif as an apéritif - is a staple at Lambert's new Collingwood joint, Above Board. As at Americano, the bar is all about subtlety and has no visible branding. House spirits are poured from reused Hibiki whisky bottles and anything with a label is kept in a drawer. "A lot of people buy with their eyes rather than by what tastes better," says Lambert. "At Above Board it's all about the taste."
Above Board, 306 Smith St, Collingwood, Vic, aboveboardbar.com

Ingredients

  • 15ml Campari
  • 25ml Amaro Montenegro
  • 25ml sweet vermouth
  • 25ml chilled espresso
  • 10ml sugar syrup
  • a dash Angostura bitters
Garnish
  • lemon twist
  • powdered sugar

Method

Main
  • 1
    Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a carats glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a lemon twist, dust with powdered sugar and serve.