Mixing with Shirley Yeung: Salted Chocolate Oldie

You don’t need a sweet tooth to love chocolate. And something doesn’t have to be overly sweet to be inherently chocolatey. Our next cocktail collab with Shirley Yeung (yes, the marvellous, creative bartender genius) takes both of these very true statements and moulds them into one fabulous choccy cocktail, the Salted Chocolate Oldie. “It tastes like an after-dinner treat,” explains Shirley. “Not overly sweet, but hits just the right spot.”

Before we get into the specifics of our glorious chocolatey cocktail, let’s talk about Shirley. This master bartender and flavour-extraordinaire is the genius behind our Salted Chocolate Oldie recipe and the popular Pink Paradise cocktail (we’ve also bugged her about the best tequila to chuck in your Margarita). Outside of Dan's time, Shirley is the Group Operations Manager and Bartender for popular Perth venues Foxtrot Unicorn, Nieuw Ruin and Edward & Ida’s. And being the legend she is, Shirley is also a co-founding member of Mix Haus, a non-profit organisation designed to help women in the industry. What a boss.

Back to the chocolatey goodness. This sophisticated sipper is wonderfully complex in flavour – a mix of dark rum, chocolate liqueur and sweet vermouth – without being annoyingly hard to make. It follows a very similar formula to that of an Old Fashioned and is just as cruisy to mix. “It really champions the rum, mixing in flavours of sweet and bitter chocolate cacao,” explains Shirley. “It’s actually a great drink for first-time Old Fashioned drinkers or the seasoned pro who wants a slight twist on an old fave.”

Simply dump your ingredients into a mixing glass with ice, stir to combine and strain over a big chunk of ice in your fanciest rocks glass. “I love this drink because it honestly is so easy and simple to make at home or anywhere,” says Shirley. “And the molasses and soft spices in the dark rum come through very boldly, blending in with the same soft sweet and bitterness from the vermouth and creme de cacao, while that saline from the salt adds depth.”

Feel like making this delish drink after dinner tonight? Have a squiz at Shirley’s top tips below.

Because this cocktail is only three ingredients and salt, you can’t really screw it up. But Shirley still has some hacks for making a good one at home.

“Buy a stirring spoon,” Shirley explains. “It will make it so much easier to get the right level of dilution as that’s the most important part of this drink.” Speaking of dilution, this cocktail is really a learn-as-you-go, so make sure you’re trying your cocktail as you stir it.

“Having some block ice is also a cheeky tip I’d recommend,” says Shirley. “It helps slow down the dilution process in the glass as you drink so you can take time with the drink.”

And while this cocktail is complete and, dare we say, perfect as is, you can switch out the dark rum for other styles. Shirley just suggests steering clear of Agricole or unaged rum that can be a bit too bright for this style of cocktail.

Serve your Salted Chocolate Oldie next to some fire dessert (Shirley says nothing too sweet, think panna cotta or bombe Alaska) and chuck on ‘Fortunate Son’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival. A good time.