Spice has the ability to completely change what your senses experience from a drink. Sriracha, horseradish, hot sauce, and jalapenos are all complex flavor-enhancing ingredients for your favorite drinks.
When adding spice to a cocktail, it is important to remember that the alcohol will enhance the heat. Even if you love spicy food and drinks, start with the recommended amount and try it before adding more.
These 5 recipes are simple to throw together - meaning you can try this new trend as soon as happy hour tonight.
Bloody Smoke Tequila
Inspired by this recipe from Thrillist
Makes one serving
This is a smoky and spicy take on a Bloody Maria. It incorporates beets with the tomato juice to add a depth of flavor and richer color.
Ingredients:
To make the beet-tomato juice: Combine 1 piece of beetroot with tomato juice in a blender and blend. Use a colander to strain the mixture, then refrigerate until you’re ready to use.
For the cocktail - simply combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail glass and stir. Serve over ice.
Spicy BLT Bloody Mary
Inspired by this recipe from Heather Christo
Makes four servings
If you’re a bacon-lover, this cocktail is for you. It brings in the flavors of BLT along with some heat for a punched-up cocktail.
Ingredients:
For the garnishes:
Combine the vegetables, vinegar, parsley, cucumber chunks, lime juice, and soy sauce in a blender. Puree until very smooth.
Stir in the vodka and horseradish. Season to your liking with the salt.
Fill 4 glasses with ice and pour the mixture over the ice. Garnish with bacon, lettuce, tomato and lemon.
Spicy Sriracha Michelada
Inspired by this recipe from Lo-Fi Gourmet
Makes one serving
The Spicy Michelada is one of the most iconic spicy cocktails. This recipe uses a more trendy sriracha to bring the heat. The Spicy Michelada is light, refreshing and perfect for when you’re grilling.
Ingredients:
To start, create a salt rim for your glass.
Next, stir together the lime juice, tomato juice, soy sauce, and sriracha in the glass. Slowly pour in the beer, stir again, and enjoy.
Sriracha Margarita
Inspired by this recipe at Pepperscale
Makes one serving
Ingredients:
Salt the rim of a margarita glass using some sriracha. To do this, you’ll place a small amount of sriracha on the plate, then dip the rim of the glass in the sriracha, followed by salt.
Next, place some ice in a cocktail shaker. Add the tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and Sriracha. Shake until ingredients are combined, and then pour into the prepared margarita glass.
Garnish with a jalapeno wheel and enjoy!
Spicy Sriracha Dirty rel="noopener noreferrer" Shirley Cocktail
Inspired by this recipe at Pass the Sushi
Makes one serving
Instead of reinventing the wheel for a spicy cocktail, sometimes it can be fun to simply make a big twist on a classic. If you love Shirley Temples, try this kicked-up version instead.
Ingredients:
To make this, place ice in a tall cocktail glass. Add the Amarena cherry syrup and the sriracha over the ice.
Next, pour in the gin and the lemon lime soda.
Stir gently and add your cherry to garnish. Then enjoy!
Tip: For a less sugary flavor, use Amarena cherries. If you can’t find them, you can also use maraschino cherries.