Welcome to our cocktail series, “The Happy Hour.” It’s Friday afternoon. Make yourself a drink.
Let's pour one out to a forgotten figure of childhood lore, someone who needs this drink as much as we do: A toast to Lord Licorice, the most misunderstood citizen of Candy Land, and maybe of all board games ever. And in his honor, a darkly delicious hot chocolate—tinged with licorice and spiked, of course.
Feel some sympathy for the sorry fellow, alone in his own in Licorice Castle, while the gingerbread people went in search of a simpler fix, in something like lollipops and gum drops. But Lord Licorice wasn't villainous; he just needed a bit of chocolate. This dreamy drink by the Mast Brothers is for him, and for anyone who takes their sweets with a dose of complexity. Bittersweet chocolate steeped with ancho chile and cinnamon, and topped off with a bit of anise liqueur: It's being a kid again, but with the good stuff stirred in.
Get the recipe: #### Spicy Spiked Hot Chocolate