Readers of the Burn! Blog know their peppers, and while my work at Simple Cocktails gives me fewer opportunities to taste the spicy stuff, I’ve had some great pepper-based liquor over the last few months.
Bloody Marys for Badasses?
The arrival of spring always gets me excited about brunch: the blooming roses, the fresh fruit, eggs of various types, and of course, brunch cocktails. In one of my blog posts recently, I said something like “I prefer spicy Bloody Marys,” and apparently, this phrase triggered a response from The God of Spicy Bloody Marys: Crazy Steve.
Yucatán: Huge Book, Big Flavors
Weighing in at 6.5 pounds, this 560-page, oversized book has more than 275 recipes and truly captures the cuisine of the region. But more than that, Sterling does a great job as a culinary travel guide, offering the inside scoop on the people, places, and ingredients of one of the world’s great regional cuisines.
Test Driving UV Vodka’s Sriracha Vodka
You’re clearly not at the Burn! Blog to read about Blue Vodka, so let’s get to the hot and spicy stuff. As I mentioned in my last post, spice can be an overly invasive flavor in “traditional” cocktails to the point that they just don’t taste very good. Jalapeño tequila, we decided, was better for cooking than drinking. The folks at UV got smart with their flavors on the Sriracha flavor by taking a very flavor that folks already love and recommending a well-known cocktail right out of the bottle: the Bloody Mary.
Irish Scream: The CaJohn’s Green Bloody Mary Project
Happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody! While you stuff yourself with green beer, corned beef, and McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes, I’ll be sipping something I’m calling the Blood Leprechaun. It’s a green tomato and tomatillo-based Bloody Mary that cranks up the heat with CaJohn’s Irish Scream hot sauce in it.
Greg Mays Reviews Tanteo Jalapeño Tequila
Flavored vodka has exploded in both popularity and absurdity over the last 5 years. You can find everything from sweet to savory on the vodka liquor shelf, but it’s mostly low-quality and artificially flavored.
Tequila, however, which is overseen by the Tequila Regulatory Council of Mexico, couldn’t legally contain any additional flavorings until 2004. As a result, you’ll find fewer flavored tequilas at the stores.
Drinking in the New Year (and Christmas)
Well, we’re about to leap into 2015, so we guess some celebrating is in order. But first, some comments about celebrations on New Year’s Eve from some wise philosophers. “I’m not a drinker,” said Woody Allen, “my body won’t tolerate spirits, really. I had two martinis New Year’s Eve and I tried to hijack an elevator and fly it to Cuba.” Don Marquis confesses: “I drink only to make my family seem interesting.” And perhaps the wisest philosopher all, the great Henny Youngman, said about his family, “My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn’t need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.” We’re going one step better than that. Here are two of our favorite Christmas and New Year’s Eve drinks.
