(Bloomberg) -- Spicy booze has come a long way since you shot some Absolut Peppar in college at that one party we're not ever going to mention again. Craft distilleries are now infusing a wider range of peppers into their spirits to go beyond the simple sensation of “hot” and instead become a delicious cocktail base.
The key here is balance: Too spicy, and it becomes unpalatable, a bottle merely to taunt people with on your shelf. Too weak, and it looks as though a distillery is trying to capitalize on other similar products.
For Herbal Cocktails: St. George Spirits' Green Chile Vodka
This vodka is made with a host of peppers. First jalapeños are macerated along with a mix of lime peels and cilantro. Next, the distiller takes four batches of distillate and infuse each with a different type of pepper—habanero, serrano, and red and yellow sweet peppers—before mixing the batches together with the jalapeño blend.
Green Thumb
Created by TJ Palmieri of Madrina's, Gainseville, Fla.
- 1 1/2 oz. St. George Green Chile Vodka
- 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
- 3/4 oz. agave nectar
- 2 thin cucumber slices
Method: Combine all ingredients with ice and shake hard for 20 seconds. (Cut the cucumber nice and thin; there's no need to muddle it.) Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with a mint sprig and cucumber slices.
For Bloody Marys: Copper Horse Distilling Hot!
This vodka kicks a standard Bloody Mary up a notch or five, even if you're not making the mix from scratch. (Ed note: When you need a mix, Zing Zang all the way.) Made with an infusion that features two of the world's hottest peppers—the Carolina Reaper pepper (the hottest at 2.2 million SHU) and the ghost pepper (1.042 million SHU)—you don't need much for Hot! to pack a punch.
Bloody Mary
- 25 oz. vodka
- 1/4 oz. Copper Horse Distilling's Hot!
- 2 oz. tomato juice
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 3/4 tsp fresh grated horseradish
- 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Celery stalk and lemon wedge for garnish
Method: Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake hard and pour into a Collins glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish with celery stalk and lemon wedge.
For Citrus Cocktails: Social Still Jalapeño Vodka
Jalapeños are added at two different points in the distillation process for this vodka. The result is a fresh, piquant spirit that blends well with sweet, citrusy flavors such as pineapple and lime. Social Still's go-to cocktail for this spirit is the Jalapeño Heist.
Jalapeño Heist
- 1/2 oz. lime juice
- 1 oz. mint simple syrup
- 5 oz. pineapple juice
- 2 oz. Social Still Jalapeño Vodka
Method: Shake with ice. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a jalapeño slice.
For Micheladas: UV Sriracha
UV isn't a craft brand by any means, but sriracha isn't exactly without its fans these days, either. The spirit smells exactly like the sauce, and UV does a good job of making it taste fairly close to the original product—just boozier. Not recommended for anything but mixing in cocktails, it does a serviceable job in Bloody Marys, but where it really shines is in a refreshing, beer-based 'chelada.
Sriracha Michelada
- 1 1/2 oz. UV Sriracha
- 12 oz. light beer
- 1/4 cup tomato juice
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Method: Combine all ingredients in a salt-rimmed pint glass.
For When You Hate Yourself: Naga Chilli Vodka
Billed as the world's hottest vodka, Hot Enough Vodka Company's Naga Chilli Vodka 500,000 Scoville edition rings in at exactly where you think. Made with a blend of Naga jolokia chiles and bhut jolokias, there is absolutely no reasons to drink this vodka, other than to cause yourself or someone you know a great deal of pain. Trust me. For those that want to hurt, but hate themselves a little less, there are also 100,000 and 250,000 SHU versions. It makes those college days seem almost quaint.
Spiciness is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), which is a function of capsaicin concentration in chili peppers. Although an imprecise scale, it can give you a general idea of how much burn to expect: A bell pepper has SHU, banana peppers SHU; jalapeños SHU; Habanero and Scotch bonnets SHU; Bhut jolokia (ghost pepper) million+ SHU.
To contact the author of this story: Sam Slaughter in at sam2@themanual.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Ocean at jocean1@bloomberg.net.
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