Tastes

It’s pretty good for sipping during the “pumpkin spice” time of year. The pumpkin spice flavor overpowers whatever chocolate taste is supposed to be there, though. I prefer the original Mozart Chocolate Cream Liqueur to this variation.

1921 Crema de Tequila is a cream liqueur, like Bailey’s, but made with a tequila blanco base instead of whiskey. It tastes like cream, with a hint of cinnamon, and then the tequila flavor shows up. Whether or not you’ll like it depends on how fond you are of the vegetal taste of tequila. It’s okay, but when I want a cream liqueur I much prefer Bailey’s or Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream.

Kahlúa is what everyone thinks of when you mention coffee liqueur. The aroma isn’t as rich as that of Café Granita, but the taste is mellower. It’s very tasty sipped neat, over the rocks, in mixed drinks, in coffee, or even over ice cream. It’s now apparently a mixture of rum and coffee liqueur, with a lower percentage of alcohol, and sadly isn’t as good as it used to be two or three decades ago. I’ll have to try Kahlúa Especial to see if it’s even better.

Café Granita has a much stronger, richer coffee aroma than Kahlúa. It’s also got a stronger, although perhaps harsher, coffee flavor. Sampling them neat, side by side, I sometimes prefer the stronger flavor of Café Granita, and sometimes the mellower flavor of Kahlúa. If you’re looking for something to mix into a cocktail, Café Granita may actually be preferable.

It’s a wonderful cream liqueur. Think Bailey’s but with the taste of bourbon. It’s sweet, of course, but not overly so. The balance between the cream and the bourbon is just right.