Black Velvet (beer cocktail)
 | |
| A layered Black Velvet cocktail with the stout on the top | |
| Type | Mixed drink |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | Straight up; without ice |
| Standard drinkware |  |
| Commonly used ingredients |
beer and sparkling wine or champagne |
| Preparation | fill a tall champagne flute, halfway with chilled sparkling wine and float stout beer on top of the wine |
The Black Velvet is a beer cocktail made from stout (often Guinness) and white, sparkling wine, traditionally champagne.
The drink was first created by the bartender of Brooks's Club in London in 1861, to mourn the death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's Prince Consort.[1] It is supposed to symbolise the black or purple cloth armbands worn by mourners.
Preparation
A Black Velvet is made by filling a vessel, traditionally a tall champagne flute, halfway with sparkling wine and floating the chilled stout beer on top of the wine. The differing densities of the liquids cause them to remain largely in separate layers (as in a pousse-café). The effect is best achieved by pouring over a spoon turned upside down over the top of the glass so that the liquid runs gently down the sides rather than splashing into the lower layer and mixing with it.
Similar drinks
- When cider or perry is used in place of the more expensive champagne, it is known as a "Poor Man's Black Velvet," but only if the cider and the stout have blended from the result of pouring the stout first. However, if the cider is poured first and followed with the stout being poured over a black-and-tan spoon, it is known as a "Black Adder," since cider and perry have a different density than champagne. Often the layered cider-stout drink is still called a poor man's black velvet. A mixed and not layered drink has no resemblance to the actual black velvet.
- In Germany, a version of this mixed beer drink made with Schwarzbier (a dark lager) and served in a beer stein or beer mug is called a "Bismarck". According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, the "Iron Chancellor" supposedly drank it by the gallon.[2]
- A similar effect is achieved by the "Black and Tan", which is a mixture of a dark and a light-coloured beer, though the more similar specific densities allow for less distinct layers.
- A variation called Velluto Italiano – Italian Velvet – substitutes two parts Birra Moretti La Rossa as the grain component and one part Prosecco as the grape component. The drink was developed to span the range between sweeter cider and dryer champagne variations, while taking advantage of the increased interest in Prosecco in the United States.
