Araklast Investigations

I created my first version of the Araklast Investigations cocktail last year as part of a series of cocktails I crafted to represent each of the player characters in my ongoing Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder campaign. This is the cocktail inspired by my own PC, a psychic detective investigator named Danielle Araklast. Dani is the daughter of a spice merchant who runs her own private investigation service, Araklast Investigations, in her home city of Magnimar. Unfortunately, as part of the events surrounding her latest investigation into a series of apparently ritualized murders, Dani’s small one-bedroom apartment/office was burned to the ground.

The Araklast Investigations cocktail draws on the spice of the Araklast family’s merchant trade, the coffee and whiskey that are staples for long stake-outs and hours piecing together clues, and the smoke that is all that remains of the physical location of its namesake.

My initial version of this drink combined cold brew coffee with bourbon, orange bitters, and clove smoke, served with a flamed orange peel for garnish. I have variously tried smoking the glass versus letting smoke imbue into the drink in a bottle, but noticed minimal difference in taste between the two. The biggest difference in flavor came from my most recent change, inspired by the new availability of Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur in my area. I’ve been wanting to play around with a bottle of this coffee liqueur ever since I first started hearing about it as a lovely liqueur with a bold coffee flavor and none of the sticky sweetness of a coffee liqueur of the style of Kahlua. Although I have enjoyed every variation of the Araklast Investigations which I’ve made, the blend of Mr Black and Larceny bourbon I ended up using (recipe below) is my favorite; I enjoyed it enough to enter it into Week 3 of the Coffee Cocktail Challenge currently being held by Mr Black (and promoted by one of my favorite YouTube bartenders, Steve the Bartender).

You can find my entry in the competition (and vote for it through 12/5/20!) here.

To a stirring glass, add:

• 1.5 oz Mr Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 1 oz bourbon (I used Larceny)
• 0.25 oz chai syrup
• 2 dashes orange bitters (I used Fee Brothers)

Add ice and stir until well-chilled.

Prepare your glass:

• Place several whole cloves on a fire-safe surface
• Use a match or kitchen torch to light the cloves, then overturn a rocks glass to sit on top of the cloves and capture the smoke from them

Strain the chilled cocktail mixture into the clove-smoked glass, over a single large piece of ice.
Garnish with either a fresh orange peel or a dehydrated orange slice.