Keybar: Home of the Rolo Shot
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Ah the Rolo. Candy of the gods. Luscious caramel wrapped in a bite sized milk chocolate shell. Mr. Nestlé must have been divinely inspired the day he conceived of this sweet treat.
Is it any wonder that the folks at Keybar were driven to craft a shot bearing the candy’s name? They’ve taken chocolately perfection and improved upon it by adding vodka.
The exact recipe for the rolo shot is shrouded in mystery, and with good reason - this shot is the single reason to visit Keybar. That is not a knock against the place, it’s a perfectly fine bar, but the rolo shot elevates it to something more, something special.
True, Keybar’s other specialty drinks must be good too. After all, they were voted ‘Best Signature Drinks’ by Citysearch in both 2005 and 2006. I haven’t tried them all, but I can tell you what the editors of Citysearch didn’t taste before writing their article - that would be the unicum shot.
What is unicum? It’s not what you might think. It certainly wasn’t what I thought (answer, unicorn semen - though that IS what it tastes like). For the answer, let’s go to the video tape (or wikipedia for those of you who aren’t fans of Warner Wolf).
Unicum is a Hungarian herbal bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif.
According to legend, the drink was initially presented by an ancestor of Zwack founder József Zwack to Kaiser Joseph II of Austria, who proclaimed “Das ist ein Unikum!” (”This is a specialty!”). The liqueur is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula including more than 40 herbs and aged in oak casks. During the Communist regime in Hungary, Unicum was produced by a different formula. After the fall of communism, Péter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed the production of the original Unicum. The flavor of Unicum closely resembles that of Jägermeister, but it is considerably earthier and less sweet with a very bitter aftertaste.
What is it with this bar and secret formulas? Maybe it IS unicorn semen!
But back to the recipe for rolo shots. Once you experience the rolo, you’ll be infected with the fever. The fever for more rolo. I have scoured the internets for hours trying to track it down but to no avail. The only pseudo-recipe I was able to find suggested that a rolo shot was comprised of ½ oz of Godiva Chocolate Liqueur and ½ oz of butterscotch schnapps.
While this combination sounds promising, it sadly is not correct (nor even very tasty). Perhaps I should have been tipped off by the lack of vodka in the recipe. It has been suggested that Keybar uses actual Rolos in their formula, melting them down and simply adding vodka. The ratio of chocolately goodness to vodka remains unknown, and I wonder if this concoction could even work. Wouldn’t the molten Rolo solidify as it cooled?
What do you guys think? Any idea what goes in a rolo shot? $20 to the first person who can give me a recipe that actually tastes like the Keybar original. In the meantime we’ll just have to take advantage of 2 for 1 rolo shots at Keybar, from opening til 10pm.
Keybar
432 East 13th St (Between 1st Ave & Ave A)
http://www.keybar.com
212.478.3021
Open Sun - Thu 6pm - 4am, Fri - Sat 5pm - 4am
Photos courtesy of verndogs.
I’m currently scouring the internet for a rolo recipe. Never been to this Keybar place, but a bar around here served this delicious thing they called ‘Rolo”. It was Creme de Cacao and Butterscotch Schnapps. No idea what the proportions are, that’s what I’m trying to find.
I thought I’d share.
try putting a package or two of rolo’s (cut in half) into a bottle of better than decent vodka and putting it into the dishwasher with a load and shaking it up the rest of the way when you take it out…. maybe add Godiva to it?
Stop searching here it is very simple.
1 tube of rolo’s to 1 75cl bottle of vodka - (You choose the brand)
Empty a small ammount of vodka
Chop up the rolo’s into quarter’s & pop into vodka
Then put the vodka bottle on a radiator to slowly melt the rolo’s
keep shaking the bottle every 10 mins or so
Once its all melted and look like “mud” pop it into the freezer for about a week, the vodka will then break down the rolo’s.
Take out of freezer and stand for 5 - 6 hours.
Pour & enjoy.