The latest in cocktails: Spicy, savory with a kick
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LONDON -- Spicy drinks are having a moment, and it's no longer just standard spicy margs and bloody marys. Bartenders are getting experimental to create the perfect combination with a kick.
"The same way that you want to season a steak or a pork chop, you want to add multiple layers. And I think spice does that if you do it the right way," says Turner Greaves, bartender at New York's Sip and Guzzle.
He makes a tequila highball called Doctor Green, which he describes as "super-herbaceous, vegetal, a little bitter. It's got tomatillo, green apple, shiso, horseradish, and then you can make it spicier with a little serrano pepper on the side."
James Stevenson, co-founder of Brutes of Mayfair cocktail bar in London, says drinks were very sweet when he started out 20 years ago, and now consumers' tastes have shifted.
Late night
(from FlipDog, London)
Ingredients
1 oz. Tapatio blanco (tequila)
0.4 oz. La Venenosa Costa Raicilla
0.4 oz. Gonzalez Byass Tio Pepe Fino (dry sherry)
0.7 oz. brine mix (onion, olive, sivri pepper)
2 drops chile tincture
Directions
Stir together all the ingredients with ice. Serve in a chilled martini glass. Add a pickled turnip to garnish.
CHILE TINCTURE
Submerge chiles in a sealed jar with a high-proof neutral alcohol like vodka (approx. 1-2 small chiles per 3.5 oz. of alcohol) and leave to steep for up to two weeks, shaking the jar occasionally. Then strain and transfer the contents into an eyedropper bottle.
Bagheera
(from Brutes of Mayfair, London)
Ingredients
1.75 oz. Lost Explorer mezcal
0.75 oz. fresh lime juice
.67 oz. Bagheera syrup
Small pinch of salt
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over cracked ice. Rim the glass with Tajin.
Bagheera syrup
275 grams simple sugar syrup (roughly 7.5 fl. oz.)
½ supermarket bunch of fresh cilantro, including stalks
1 small Thai green chile
3 jalapeno chiles
¼ teaspoon of ascorbic acid (vitamin C powder), to stop the cilantro from turning brown
½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
1 thumb-size piece of peeled fresh ginger
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large container or blender. Blend until the coriander and chiles have completely broken down and the mixture is well combined. Strain through a fine mesh strainer bag or muslin cloth. Transfer to a clean container and refrigerate.
Doctor Green
(from Sip & Guzzle, New York)
Servings: 20
Ingredients
34 oz. green apple juice
34 oz. tomatillo juice
24 oz. green tequila
6 oz. Sauternes
Directions
Juice tomatillo and green apple and whisk in 2 grams ascorbic powder and 4 grams pectinase powder per liter of juice until dissolved.
Rest at room temperature or in the fridge for at least one to two hours until the juice splits into clear liquid and sediment layers. Combine all ingredients and strain through a fine mesh strainer until clear. Carbonate using a specialist drinks carbonator.
Green tequila
3.4 oz. Patron tequila
0.25 oz. shiso
0.25 oz. fennel
0.25 oz. horseradish
2 pieces star anise
Directions
Combine the ingredients and allow to infuse at room temperature for 24 hours.