Category: Chocolate Cafe

We Asked 17 Drinks Pros: What’s the Best After-Dinner Drink?

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Dessert may be some folks’ favorite course, but here at VinePair, we believe the best way to end a meal involves a tipple or two. From cocktails and cordials to wines and digestifs, the act of consuming after-dinner drinks is a long-standing tradition. And thanks to the rise of craft cocktails and the resurgence of amari in recent years, the nightcap has returned with vigor.

Today’s after-dinner drinks take many forms and range from customary digestion-aiding drinks and dessert wines to intricate specialty cocktails. If you’re new to the movement and are just entering your grown-up after-dinner drinking phase, finding the right sip to fit your preference can be daunting — especially in today’s Espresso Martini-laden landscape. To help guide you, we’ve polled a team of experts. Ahead, bartenders, sommeliers, and other beverage pros share their favorite drinks to sip post-meal.

The Best After-Dinner Drinks, According to Drinks Pros

  • negroni
  • Jean-Marc Roulot L’Abricot Liqueur
  • Palm wine
  • Underberg
  • Forthave
  • Carajillo
  • Ferrari
  • Chartreuse VEP
  • Drambuie
  • Braulio
  • Pineau
  • Kijoshu
  • 2000 D’Oliveiras Malvasia Colheita Madeira
  • Francoli Antico Amaro Novelis Liqueur
  • Averna

“My cocktail of choice is always Negroni, and is, of course, served over one big ice cube. The most interesting Negroni I think I’ve ever had was in Positano a month ago. It was fermented in butter for 24 days before serving.” —Justin Moran, founder, The Hidden Sea, South Australia

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“An after-dinner drink should be a crowd pleaser — something anyone and everyone can enjoy after a wonderful meal. Lately, I’ve been reaching for Jean-Marc Roulot’s L’Abricot liqueur. It’s made from apricots grown on the estate of JL Chave in the Hermitage which are then shipped to Meursault, where they are macerated in a brandy made from Roulot’s own grapes. It has a pure apricot flavor that anyone will love and isn’t as polarizing as whiskey or amaro.” —Jon Adler, beverage director, Shinji’s, New York City

“My favorite after-dinner drink is palm wine. Palm wine is a traditional African beverage that is made by tapping the sap of a palm tree. The juice then hangs from a bucket attached to the side of the tree and naturally ferments for up to six hours. Afterward, you are left with a slightly sweet and creamy ‘wine’ that has a low ABV of just around 4 percent.” —Mathew Scherl, beverage director, Lagos Restaurant & Lounge, NYC

“The bracingly herbal Underberg digestif is my top choice for after-dinner drinks. Not only does the slogan on their label hold true — ‘After a good meal… to feel bright and alert’ — but the adorably unique mini bottles make it the most fun after-dinner out there, and if you collect the signature green plastic caps , you can redeem them for prizes, like this enviable leather belt holster that costs 480 caps.” —Bryan Schneider, bar director, Quality Branded restaurants, NYC

“I think Forthave is the star here. Not only do I love the gents from Forthave, Aaron Sing Fox and Daniel de la Nuez, but it is an extremely local product coming out of Brooklyn.” —Gabriel Maldonado, beverage director, The Wesley, NYC

“The Carajillo is made many different ways in many different parts of the Spanish-speaking world, and asking five people how they like theirs would probably yield five distinct specs. But the basic formula — espresso with a nice, hearty spirit — is always a winner for an after-dinner drink. I also enjoy a Ferrari cocktail as an after-dinner drink. Fernet-Branca and Campari are polarizing amari — many people either love them or hate them. If you’re in the former camp, this 50/50 concoction brings you the best of both worlds. It retains Fernet’s bracing minty bitterness, but the Campari softens and lightens the overall flavor profile, turning what sounds like an overly intense combination into a uniquely refreshing one. Ferraris are typically consumed as a shot alongside a cold can of Tecate beer, but they’re just as good sipped over ice.” —Noah Manskar, head bartender, Colonia Verde, Brooklyn

“My favorite is Chartreuse VEP (Yellow Label). After a heavy meal — especially during this season, or even if you have a hard time with your digestion — Chartreuse, like many other herbal-based spirits, works best. It is also one of the only liquors that ages and improves in-bottle.” —Simon Sebbah, beverage director, The Lambs Club, NYC

“I love Drambuie as an after-dinner drink. The combination of aged Scotch, Heather honey, spices and herbs is the perfect end to a delicious meal.” —Paula Lukas, bartender and beverage consultant, NYC

“At the end of a meal, a glass of amaro is my go-to. While its pharmaceutical benefits may have been debunked centuries ago, there is something civilized and soothing about ending a

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IBD 50: Energy Drink Stock Celsius Soars On Pepsi, Martial Arts Partnerships

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Celsius (CELH) is building a cup base with a buy point of 118.29. Shares reclaimed their 50-day moving average last week and are holding above that key level. Volume surged as they cut past the 10- and 50-day lines. The somewhat asymmetric cup of this energy drink stock has a near-ideal depth of 34%.




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Celsius is on the carefully selected IBD 50 and IBD Leaderboard lists of growth stocks that are proving to be market leaders.

The energy drink stock ranks 9th in the Beverage-Non-Alcoholic group, which holds 60th place among IBD’s 197 industry groups. The Boca Raton, Fla.-based company has a less-than-ideal 74 Composite Rating as a result of erratic profit performance in the last year.

However, the Relative Strength Rating of 97 confirms the defensive play’s popularity with investors, placing it at or above 97% of all publicly traded stocks. Its RS line is also at a 52-week high, showing superior performance compared to the S&P 500.

Energy Drinks Drive Strong Partnerships

Third-quarter sales grew to $188.2 million, a whopping 98% year-over-year increase. However, the 28 cents-per-share loss for the quarter was steeper than the prior year’s 13-cent loss.

One reason for the mixed results: Celsius sells energy drinks and protein bars, which tend to perform according to seasonal variations. The third quarter may be a seasonally-weak period, with folks taking summer breaks and students heading back to class.

Last week, it announced a multiyear deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), the second largest mixed martial arts sports organization, triggering an 11% share spike. As a result of the deal, Celsius will be the official energy drink partner for the organization, starting with the 2022 PFL World Championship on Nov. 25 at Madison Square Gardens.

Celsius’ products include sparkling and nonalcoholic beverages and powder packets, all under the CELSIUS brand name. It also sells Celsius Heat, which provides pre- and post-workout amino acid supplements.

According to the company, its energy drinks increase metabolism while burning calories and body fat. It comes as a drink supplement as well as in an “on-the-go” powder form.

Products are available in US grocery stores, convenience stores and fitness specialty retailers. Other countries where Celsius products are available include Puerto Rico, Sweden, Finland, Norway, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bermuda and Australia.

In August, Celsius entered into several agreements with PepsiCo (PEP). These include a securities purchase, a lockup agreement, a distribution agreement and a channel transition agreement. Through these agreements, the company issued 1,466,666 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock and received $550 million in cash.

In return, Pepsi will become the primary distributor of Celsius products in the US and certain overseas markets.

Strong Institutional Interest

Institutional interest is very high for this market leader, which came public in May 2017.

Mutual funds own a staggering 80% of outstanding Celsius shares. Strong institutional interest is a further indication of the energy drink stock’s technical and fundamental power, according to the CAN SLIM stock picking methodology. Among ETFs, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) and the Vanguard Small Cap ETF (VB) hold shares.

Follow VRamakrishnan @IBD_VRamakrishnan for more news on stocks.

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At 35, I found out I had gout. Imagine having to give up everything you like to eat and drink | Daniel Levelle

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I wake up to the searing pain in my right foot, the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Worse than the time I broke my back after plummeting 16ft from a cricket practice net, worse than when a rusty nail, jutting out from a rickety armchair, bored into my soft infant arm and worse than any grief from my teeth over the years. I switch on the light, gently remove the covers and discover an angry red lump, the size and shape of a golf ball, pulsing on the big toe of my right foot. I have no idea how this happened. It’s like I’ve been sucked into a cartoon overnight, and Daffy Duck has whacked me with an Acme hammer.

In my non-expert opinion, the toe looks broken. I think I should go to a hospital, but I reason that the NHS is too busy and what can they do about a broken toe except say “you have a broken toe” and send me on my way with crutches and painkillers. Also, I’m too lazy. In fact, that’s the real reason I don’t go; the NHS bit was to make me look good in your eyes. Soz.

Anyway, after much lazy and desperate calls to the hotel I’m staying at, a kindly receptionist collects some crutches from an Argos next door and delivers them to my room. Somehow, I manage to collect my effects and hobble with my new sticks to Euston station.

When I return home, my mum torpedoes my plan to just let the toe heal itself. She tells me my foot could be sore and disfigured for life, or I could end up like Bob Marley, who, she says, famously dismissed a sore toe and died of cancer soon after. The Marley story inspired enough sense of peril in me, and I let Mum drop me off at the Royal Oldham hospital.

After a surprisingly short wait in A&E, I get to tell a triage nurse about the mystery. “Do you think I knocked it during the night?” I ask her, hopefully. The nurse glances at my toe, “No, it’s gout,” she says. “Gout!?” I say. “That’s right,” she says, a bit too gleefully, as she taps away on her desktop keyboard. I don’t believe it. Gout is a condition I associate with elderly rich gluttons or ancient bigamist Tudors, but apparently I’ve managed to cram a lifetime of greed into just 35 years.

Painting of First meeting of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, 1835 by Daniel Maclise
‘Gout is a condition I associate with elderly rich gluttons or ancient bigamist Tudors.’ First meeting of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, by Daniel Maclise. Photo: Heritage Images/Getty Images

Gout occurs because the kidneys can no longer efficiently filter uric acid out of the body. The acid eventually crystallizes in the joints and can lead to severe inflammation.

All the nice things in life can trigger it: foods rich in purines – chemical compounds that form uric acid when metabolized – such as red meat, seafood, booze and cake. It’s why it’s called the rich man’s disease because, for centuries, only a king like Henry VIII could afford to live like that. Now, anyone with a Just Eat app can order their way to an early death. Or, at least, a very painful foot.

If I don’t want this to happen again, I have to quit almost everything I like, and it’s high time, too. This shouldn’t be too difficult, as I don’t dislike healthy food, but cooking is something I did in the noughties when I was skint, long before I could get a meal with just my fingertips. I don’t even have to hand over cash any more; all I have to do is raise my head slightly from my cushion like a tardy tortoise poking its head from its shell, make eye contact with my camera and facial recognition does the rest.

If only it was as simple as switching to healthy food, though. It turns out that oily fish such as sardines and mackerel – universally recognized as being good for your heart due to all the omega-3 they have – may as well be hydrofluoric acid for my gouty kidneys. The fact that red meat and offal risk causing flare-ups is not surprising, but broccoli, spinach? It turns out that even these superfoods can lead to crutches.

I’m doing all right, though. This was the wake-up call I needed. At least the first major warning was an excruciating toe rather than feeling like an elephant had sat on my chest.

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