Tia Maria is currently partnering with Moonlight Cinema around Australia, as part of the brand’s plans to highlight the “very best of coffee cocktail mixology”.
The event experience is part of the Tia Maria Coffee Project, which about creating different coffee cocktails and celebrating what’s new and next in coffee mixology.
In addition to the classic Tia Espresso Martini, the Moonlight Cinema bars off, the Tia Popcorn Frappe, plus the Tia Coffee Tonic, which Tia Maria Brand Ambassador Mark Hickey told TheShout is a simple drink that is taking people by surprise.
“The Tia Maria and tonic is something we’re doing with Moonlight Cinema at the moment and people are really enjoying it,” Hickey said.
“Some people say they are adding a little extra coffee into the drink, while others are going straight up with Tia Maria, tonic and a slice of lemon. But the great thing is this a way for retailers to surprise people and suggest they make a Tia Maria and tonic at home with a slice of lemon, that is the simplest drink and people will be surprised by it.”
He added: “The great thing about Tia Maria is that it has a Jamaican Rum base, which gives us a molasses base and that gives us more chocolate and coffee flavours. So we find it’s more versatile for using in cocktails because of that balance of chocolate flavours.
“That’s the message we’re really trying to get across to bartenders, that Tia Maria will balance really well in cocktails because of those chocolate and coffee flavours.”
The Moonlight Cinema experience is part of Tia Maria’s plans to get Tia Maria back in the hands of both bartenders and consumers over the coming year.
Hickey told TheShout: “If we get it back in their hands, we will show them how to make more and more drinks down the line. At the moment it’s all about the visibility of the brand, and that is why we came on board with Moonlight Cinema for our exposure level. We want to get bartenders to trust the brand and be confident in using the brand and really show off the label.
“That’s why we changed the bottling, so it looks a lot cleaner and a lot more precise.
“We are trying to show that Tia Maria can be used across the board, in tonic water drinks, in soda water drinks, in milk drinks, Espresso Martinis; it can be used with whisky, rum, Cognac, you name it. It’s all about versatility, showing the versatility of the brand.”