Last night I stopped off at Copa d’Oro for happy hour as usual but this time head bar dude Vincenzo Marianella had a special surprise for me. He had just gotten a bottle of Mozart dark chocolate liqueur! And this was months after I first fell in love with the idea of the chocolate Manhattan that was the Diva cocktail on Copa’s brand-new menu. Apparently this liqueur is a bitch to get a hold of so I had to wait it out and even content myself with a Diva made with Marie Brizard Cacao instead. Not bad, but I imagined not the same.

But now he had the real stuff and proceeded to make me one with the disclaimer that he actually thinks there was a misprint in the menu where it’s supposed to be Campari, not Sweet Vermouth listed in the ingredients. Regardless he ended up making me a variation with:

• 2 oz Sazerac Rye
• 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 1/3 oz Mozart Dark Chocolate liqueur
• A dash of orange bitters
• 2 dashes of rhubarb bitters

Needless to say, I loved it. The chocolate flavor was very subtle only showing up in the finish but it was so tasty. However, my happy hour companion, John of Social Domain, said that the cocktail was missing depth. Then Vincenzo gave me a taste of Diva made with Campari and that obviously had kick. “It’s more of an aperitif,” he explained.

In any case, I’ll be back for more. That’s my bottle of Mozart and you can’t have any! I kid. Sorta.

Copa d’Oro
217 Broadway
Santa Monica, California 90401 (map)
(310) 576-3030
Hours: Monday-Wednesday 5pm-12am; Thursday-Saturday 6pm-2am; with plans to open 7 days a week