In the light of last month’s Burn Blog story about Stone’s “beers that burn,” I searched for other options in the world of chile beers, and found one just over the mountains in the east, from Sierra Blanca Brewing Company in Moriarty, New Mexico.
Stone Brewing presents: Beers that Burn
I suppose there will be a day when I run out of hot and spicy alcohol to sip on, but we’re not there yet. On a trip to my local brick-and-mortar liquor store here in Albuquerque, I found several that I hadn’t tried yet, but since this has been a big beer-drinking summer for me, I grabbed some spicy beer to try out.
Hot Monkey Pepper Vodka
Guarding the northeast post at Distillery Row is New Deal Distillery, home to 4 vodkas, 2 gins, and 2 liqueurs. One vodka is a perfect fit for us here at the Burn! Blog, and you’ll know right away by its name: Hot Monkey Vodka, the star of New Deal’s line because it won a Gold Medal for flavored vodkas at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, the Olympics of distilled spirits.
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.
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.
