6 Spicy Summer Cocktails
Spicy cocktails and summer. Don't ask why or how the equation works, it just does.
Muddled jalapeño in tequila or bourbon, a Sriracha-spiked Bloody Mary. But don't just assume that only the obvious flavor combinations work — the Spicy Basil, for example, pairs Sriracha with Champagne and aromatic St-Germain. You can think outside the box in terms of technique too, experimenting, perhaps, with a tangerine and serrano-infused vodka. Not ready to fully commit to the spicy cocktail concept? Try rimming a drink with a more mellow crushed pepper garnish.
Ready for cocktail hour? Check out six of our favorite "hot" cocktails to drink this summer.
A spicy cocktail for the whiskey lush, this drink fuses jalapeño-muddled bourbon with the bright citrusy tang and bubbles of blood orange soda.
A couple drops of spicy Sriracha add a nice kick to the otherwise delicate combination of basil, St-Germain, ginger liqueur, and Champagne.
This recipe features what is perhaps one of the most ingenious ways to combine a mixer with a spirit — freeze the mixer into a cube. Here, as the Sriracha-spiked Bloody Mary mix cubes melt, their red color "bleeds" into the vodka, creating a drink that changes with every passing moment.
Fans of making liquor infusions should definitely make a batch of the firey serrano and tangerine-infused vodka that stars in this cocktail from Portland's Guilt Club. Originally inspired by a Cosmopolitan, dill was added to the drink to give it a savory component and more complex flavor.
A riff on a Prickly Pear Margarita, this drink ups the ante with muddled serrano peppers. And for those who don't have or want to use a blender to get that frozen cocktail effect, this recipe cleverly subs in prickly pear sorbet.
Like the idea of a spicy cocktail but not ready to commit to the heat level brought on by jalapeños or Sriracha? Try this gin and Satsuma orange-based drink which features the moderately spicy Aleppo pepper in the rim garnish.