Spicy, smoky, a little sweet, a little bitter, and a depth of flavour and texture to make you want another, the Morita mole martini is the perfect blend of Mexican flavours and Australian craft distilling genius. Here’s how to make the Morita Mole Martini.
On the brink of the Devil’s Wilderness overlooking the eastern fringes of the Blue Mountains is Nick and Ally Ayres’ distillery – Karu.
Since 2017, the Ayres have been making their two gins – Affinity and Lightning – and winning some incredible accolades in the process.
But the whole time they’ve been crafting Karu’s excellent gins, Nick and Ally have also had something else in mind. Something with a bit more kick to it.
Morita Chipotle Vodka
When I first saw heard the name of this vodka, I immediately thought this was in honour of the late great Pat Morita – you might know him as Mr Miyagi of Karate Kid fame.
But this morita is a reference to a chilli in Mexico used for making chipotle sauce – and one of the prime ingredients in Karu Distillery’s unique spirit.
Also in the vodka is meco – another popular chipotle chilli – as well as a host of other fresh ingredients.
The way Karu Distillery have combined the smoky, earthy, sweet and spicy flavours and aromas of these two types of chilli with things like coriander seed, fresh lime, green capsicum and agave means there’s a lot happening with this spirit.
What does chipotle vodka taste like – and how can you drink it?
It’s important to remember this is not just a chilli-flavoured vodka; these ingredients have been distilled into the spirit rather than just added later.
Nick and Ally recommend drinking their Morita Vodka in a bloody mary or a margarita, or even just with lime and soda.
I actually think this stuff’s great on its own over ice, but then I got to thinking about other flavours that go with this wonderful deep, rich, smoky profile.
For more details, you can read our full review of Karu’s Morita Chipotle Vodka here.
Morita Chipotle Mole Martini recipe
When we think of the classic Mexican sauce mole, we think of chocolate, but it turns out it’s not as simple as that.
In Mexico, mole takes many forms. It’s a base sauce that everyone uses that contains at least a form of chilli and a form of aromatic like onion or garlic, but there are some that have over 30 different ingredients and become very complicated.
You can read a great in-depth explanation on what mole is here but the type of mole we focused on is the well-known one that includes chocolate in its flavours.
Chipotle Mole Martini Recipe
– 60ml Morita Chipotle Vodka
– Touch of dry vermouth
– 10ml white creme de cacao
– 3-4 dashes of chocolate bitters
– Chilli to garnish
Stir all ingredients with plenty of ice and strain into coup glass. Garnish with chilli – seeds removed if you like who you’re serving the drink to!
The gentle heat from the chillies in the Morita Vodka and all the other clever flavours there combine with the sweet and bitter chocolate umami notes perfectly.
You can watch me make this delicious cocktail on our IGTV as part of our Cocktail Hour series.
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I also thought about adapting the Killer Bee – a cocktail recipe we featured in our Cocktail Party ebook, but I think this martini really accentuates the incredible depth of flavours in the vodka while also maintaining a Mexican identity.
You can buy your bottle of Karu Morita Chipotle Vodka here and read more about this excellent distillery here.
