Black Velvet

Oh black velvet, how cheeky of you! You sound so terrible on paper (stout beer and champagne?!) but taste so good! How'd ya do that? Also, I have to congratulate you on being my 91st drink, aka the halfway point in the project. We've come so far together!

In all honesty, I've been dreading this little baby since I first flipped through my recipe book because it just seemed like the stout would completely overpower the champagne. At that point, I was also under the impression that I wouldn't like stout, assuming it would be like a more intense version of lighter colored beer: the same flavor, but more. How can I be from the Pacific Northwest and also be so completely ignorant where beer is concerned? Stout is great: smooth, certainly no more bitter than other beers, with a far more complex flavor. Geez! I wish someone had told me sooner.

The stout I used was Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, whose label looked something like this:

Who wouldn't want to buy that? Does my Russian stalker know what the part in Russian says? I'll be disappointed if it's just the same thing translated into Russian. Anyway, the beer was good and I drank the portion not allocated to the cocktail.

The cocktail itself tasted more like champagne than beer until the very dregs. It was just a little less sweet, more rich and smooth. A lovely companion for the evening.

1 ounce stout

3 ounces champagne

-Pour stout into champagne flute without creating much foam. Very very slowly add the champagne on top so that they separate.

Enjoy and bottoms up!