The Devil and I go way back. Growing up, we ran into each other off and on at elementary school, mostly at the principal’s office. It wasn’t until my junior year in high school when I got a car and a girlfriend that we became BFFs, though. Since then, we’ve had many adventures together. The latest came when Chamuco’s Tequila CEO Mark Howard gave me a bottle of the company’s reposado to review. From the snazzy box to the handmade artisan bottle and all the way to the taste, my old buddy’s touch is definitely evident.
Royal Rose 3 Chile Simple Syrup
Simple syrup is an important ingredient for any bar, a 2-to-1 mixture of sugar and water which dissolves more easily in the cold liquids of a cocktail. In classic cocktails like a Mint Julep or the Daiquiri, simple syrup is essential.
Crater Lake Pepper Vodka
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.
