Thanks for the post, always keen to hear about new quality chocolate products. Can you tell us something more about the chocolate used in the drink, and other ingredients? The liquor lobby has managed to keep ingredients lists off their products (somehow the addition of alcohol means a drink is suddenly not food!) It's hard to judge the quality then without knowing, say, whether the chocolate contains vanilla or a substitute like vanillin.

Also it would be interesting to know what kind of percentage of chocolate is in the drink?

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

“Cocktail,” the term for mixed drinks, was first used in 1806 in the Balance & Columbian Repository journal as a description for a “stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters.” They went on, rather creatively, to add “It is vulgarly called a bittered sling and is supposed to be an excellent electioneering potion, inasmuch as it renders the heart stout and bold, at the same time that it fuddles the head. It is said, also to be of great use to a Democratic candidate: because a person, having swallowed a glass of it, is ready to swallow anything else.”

To mark this historic milestone, Vermeer Spirits Limited challenge cocktail creators across the UK to create a new drink using Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur, their unique blend of Dutch chocolate, cream and vodka, to create a delicious new cocktail. For inspiration, existing cocktails using Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur can be seen at http://www.vermeerspirits.com/content/the_mix.php where recipes include combinations with other liqueurs such as Chambord® or Toussaint Coffee Liqueur® and others with rum, SKYY® vodka or Amaretto®.

The winner, to be chosen by an independent tasting panel, will receive three cases of Vermeer along with various other prizes. One second prize winner will receive one case and two third prize winners will receive a bottle each.

Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur is available from retailers including Partridges of Soho, the Corney & Barrow Notting Hill Wine Shop, The City Beverage Company and Partridges of Sloane Square, as well as through wholesalers including Coe Vintners, Venus & Company, Amathus Wines and Malcolm Cowen. To purchase online go to http://www.drinkon.com or http://www.drinkfinder.co.uk

Cocktail recipes should be submitted, complete with an appropriate name for the drink, by email to Maureen Muirhead of Vermeer Spirits Limited at info@vermeerspirits.com or posted to 9 Royal Avenue, London, SW3 4QE by the cocktail hour on Friday 14th July 2006.

Please telephone Maureen Muirhead with queries on +44 (0) 20 7259 9990. Publications requiring imagery should email maureen@vermeerspirits.com to request JPEG images.

It is a combination of Dutch chocolate, cream and premium vodka and more information on it can be seen at http://www.vermeeruk.com

The drink can be enjoyed on the rocks, as part of cocktails or to help create many delicious recipes.

If anyone has any queries about the drink, please do email me at maureen@vermeerspirits.com