Easy Speak

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (171 ratings)
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    Easy Speak

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Easy Speak image

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
2 oz Bourbon whiskey
3⁄4 oz Cynar or other carciofo amaro
1⁄3 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup) 2 sugar to 1 water
4 drop Chocolate bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).
  5. EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 7/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10
More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Originally served in a chilled old-fashioned glass without ice but I prefer this cocktail with the dilution that comes with ice. Don't worry if you don't have any chocolate bitters, this drink has enough complexity without the extra bitterness.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2012 by Scott Diaz, Beverage & Cafe Manager at Elliott's Oyster House & Seafood Café in Seattle, Washington.

More cocktails by Scott Diaz

Nutrition:

One serving of Easy Speak contains 219 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 26.11% alc./vol. (26.11° proof)
  • 24.2 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Antonio Costa’s Avatar Antonio Costa
25th February at 23:08
My two cents. Forget the syrup, already too sweet because of Bourbon and cynar. If you want a really worth it upgrade, cynar 70. Thats all.
1
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Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
16th September 2024 at 02:32
Tried before, it was excellent. This time around (used a 99 proof bourbon) it was a bit sweet. My rich syrup has been covered, in the fridge, for a while so perhaps evaporation has concentrated it. A strong dash of chocolate bitters completely corrected the balance. Certainly served with ice. ♡
1
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Joseph Hillyard’s Avatar Joseph Hillyard
10th September 2024 at 01:35
My unsolicited advice: sub maple syrup (half the amount, maybe less!) for the simple. Adds to the complexity and helps it last longer!
2
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Ian T’s Avatar Ian T
23rd October 2024 at 21:47
Cheers for the tip. Agree it add extra complexity.
1
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Jonathan Goldthorpe’s Avatar Jonathan Goldthorpe
9th August 2024 at 14:17
Agree with all comments. Fabulous rich cocktail, chocolate bitters make it. Would dial back the sugar a little though
1
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Adam Kormondy’s Avatar Adam Kormondy
29th January 2024 at 07:45
This is a good drink! Not too sweet for me using Woodford Reserve. Took Garrett's advice with some orange oils on top and highly recommend. Ends with that distinctive Cynar bitterness. As the drink dilutes, the cocoa notes increase.
1
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Yossi Burg’s Avatar Yossi Burg
22nd January 2024 at 05:08
The chocolate bitters make this - next time I'll take Garrett's suggestion and zooz a little orange zest over the top. Pretty good complex mix of flavours that work well together.
2
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Shay Dabush’s Avatar Shay Dabush
16th December 2023 at 00:27
Way too sweet for me. I'll cut the simple syrup in half, try again, and report back.
1
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Robert Murphey’s Avatar Robert Murphey
6th June 2023 at 23:45
Wonderful boozy cocktail. Far more complex than the few ingredients might suggest. Nice balance as well.
1
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Briana Warsing’s Avatar Briana Warsing
24th April 2023 at 18:41
loved it. delicious. love Cynar. used bulleit bourbon. will drink again.
1
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Paul Holdsworth’s Avatar Paul Holdsworth
5th March 2023 at 17:12
Just tried this and I'm completely bemused by the suggestions below that it's "too sweet". Not puckeringly dry, but make it as per the recipe and it's excellent, well-balanced and satisfying. If the chocolate bitters are omitted then I'm sure you'll get a sweeter concoction, but that's not the drink, is it?
1
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Ian Johnson’s Avatar Ian Johnson
9th June 2023 at 03:36
They may be using underproof bourbon, a common mistake
4
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