1.5 oz Blackstrap Rum
.75 oz Cherry Heering
0.5 oz Frangelico
2 dashes Chocolate Bitters
Shake ingredients well with ice, pour over a large ice cube in a rocks glass. Top with seltzer water and stir gently.
NOTES: Interesting direction, but in the end, too much rich molasses flavor. Needs to be a little less intense to be successful, but worth revisiting.
I love Blackstrap. I recently just made a similar cocktail and I had the same issues of it being far too rich, a trait I find in many rich dark rum or aged sherry style cocktails. I used Creme de Cacao instead of Frangelico, orange bitters vs. chocolate, and Campari sans Cherry Herring. I felt Campari provided that missing bitter contrast and combined with the orange, cacao and Blackstrap the ending result was nice coffee notes with hints of citrus and molasses. Let me know if you have other Blackstrap ideas, cheers!