I don't always sit around drinking beer, you know. Not at all. I am a far more complex and well rounded individual than that. I also like to drink wine, cider, vodka, paint, aftersha.....scrub that, I've told you too much.
What I do like to drink though is TIA MARIA, a rich and sensual, coffee-based liqueur. There's nothing better than relaxing after a nice meal with a coffee and a healthy portion of 'tiddly'.
THE LEGEND
Tia Maria's history can be traced back 300 years or so, to the Caribbean Island of Jamaica. In the midst of the colonial wars a beautiful Spanish noblewoman was forced to flee her home. Amidst the confusion of her escape, her maid had just enough time to grab a few treasured possessions, including a family recipe for a cordial. To show her gratitude, the noblewoman named the cordial after her maid - TIA MARIA.
Tia Maria has been made from the original recipe to this day, but commercial production didn't start until the 1940's. Dr Kenneth Leigh Evans was offered some with a meal at a friends home, and persuaded them of it's commercial possibilities.
Tia Maria is the UK's leading coffee liqueur and was awarded the gold medal in the Liqueurs category of the International Wine and Spirits Competition in 2000 and 1999.
How it's made
Tia Maria is produced by Estate Industries Ltd in Kingston, Jamaica, from coffee beans harvested from the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
The Coffee Beans are cracked in the roaster and the extract transfered to vats. Water, vanillin and citric acid are then added to the containers followed by 96% proof alcohol. This produces the concentrate. There are a series of filtrations before the concentrate is added to a vat of liquid sugar. This produces what is known as the Tia Maria Concentrate at 32.4% ABV which is then shipped worldwide for secondary processing and bottling.
Somewhere along the process, the mixture gets less concentrated and when the liqueur finally retails in bottled form, the ABV is 26.5%.
Sourced from:
http://www.allieddomecq.com
This rich dark spirit comes in an attractive bottle that is pleasantly shaped, with a crimson and gold label, gold lettering and a bright red top. It's quite an elegant design, is very enticing and hints at rich indulgence.
It can be drunk with a wide variety of mixers and is the base of a number of cocktails. However, I prefer to drink it on it's own to appreciate the full flavour and warming sensation of this decadent little tipple.
THE POUR
The colour of the drink itself is a a dark, coffee brown as you would expect. The texture is quite viscous and almost syrupy due, no doubt, to the high sugar content. The aroma is fairly strong but pleasant (always assuming that you like the smell of coffee!). There's the suggestion of freshly filtered coffee on the nose with just a hint of the sweet vanilla.
THE TASTE
Rich and full of flavour, the mouthfeel is velvety and luxurious. You can taste the alcohol but it's not overpowering, just as it should be. Strong coffee flavour dominates and it is very, VERY sweet with the vanilla only pushing ever so slightly through. It's a very warm, smooth and satisfying flavour with no real alcohol burn.
THE VERDICT
Absolutely, thoroughly delicious. Make no mistake, unless you hate the taste of coffee, you will love this. They claim in their adverts that it's wickedly seductive. They're right!
It's best served as an after dinner liqueur or just when you feel the need to indulge yourself.
The downside is the cost. At £13.99 for a 750ml bottle, it's a drink to savour.
* TIPS *
Don't drink enough of this to get drunk, it is one of the worst hangovers imaginable.
Don't spill any because it is so sticky it will stay with you forever.
Don't annoy anyone so much that they pour a glass over you...BOY does that make a mess.
Get someone else to buy it for you if possible.
One of the worlds most successful premium international liqueurs, Tia Maria offers consumers an intriguing, alluring and daring experience Tia Maria i...More at ShopRite Wines and Spirit
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