9 Spicy Tequila Cocktails, Past the Margarita

There is no such thing as a denying that the spicy Margarita is the drink of our occasions. It’s additionally, as Punch contributor Scott Hocker remarks, concurrently “secure, excessive, cultured and milquetoast.” However as the decision for “one thing spicy, with tequila” grows ever extra fervent, the “spicy, with tequila” drink has risen to the event. For these trying to break from the norm, these fashionable piquant recipes—from a Chartreuse-laced cooler to a savory riff on the Oaxaca Outdated-Long-established—are right here to assist.

At Whisler’s in Austin, Texas, The Greenbelt will get its spicy kick from an easy-to-make verdita. Sometimes a inexperienced juice chaser designed to observe tequila pictures, right here the mix of pineapple juice, jalapeños, cilantro and mint enhances grassy tequila, natural génépy and spiced falernum for a refreshing spin on a bitter. In a equally verdant take, Bobby Heugel’s aptly named Spicy With Tequila offsets the warmth of a habanero tincture with recent mint leaves and the bracing herbaceousness of inexperienced Chartreuse, for a drink that reads as concurrently scorching and cooling. (Should you don’t have Chartreuse, take into account another.)

Habanero is the pepper of selection, too, in Grand Military’s Johnny Blaze, which will get a double dose of warmth from a habanero shrub and ginger liqueur. In the meantime, within the Mezcal Solar-Risa, a spicy tackle the Tequila Dawn, hibiscus-habanero syrup takes the place of the drink’s conventional grenadine. The spicy kick in Phil Ward’s Stone Raft—an unexpectedly savory drink, because of amontillado sherry and celery bitters—comes as an alternative from jalapeño-infused tequila paired with mezcal on this distant riff on Ward’s personal Oaxaca Outdated-Long-established. In the meantime, the Soiled Outdated Man from Barely Disfigured in New York opts for pink chiles infused into Aperol.

Whereas many scorching cocktails are based mostly on infusions, syrups and tinctures, the Lucy Liu from Brooklyn’s Sama Avenue takes a novel strategy. By combining tequila with chile oil and dried puya and Thai chiles, bartender David Muhs creates a base spirit that provides a tingling sensation, with a rounded mouthfeel because of the fats wash. Whereas Sama Avenue makes use of the dressed-up tequila on this creamy, tropical drink, it really works effectively in Palomas or Margaritas, too.

Then there are the spicy drinks that make use of already-spicy components. Ezra Star’s Ancho Downside, for instance, requires no infusions or tinctures for its warmth, turning as an alternative to Ancho Reyes chile liqueur to offer smoky spice. Toby Maloney prefers inexperienced Tabasco to a do-it-yourself syrup or infusion for its consistency in drinks just like the Flaming Coronary heart, which he describes as “an incredible name for anybody asking for a spicy Margarita.”

However in the event you’re searching for one thing extra surprising, look no additional than the Unlikely Negroni. The recipe turns the aperitivo traditional on its head, swapping out gin for tequila and including the tropical flavors of coconut, banana and pineapple, plus a splash of Thai chile tincture. In response to its creator, Naren Younger, “The Unlikely Negroni is precisely that: a preposterous mixture of flavors that by some means works”—and it’s something however milquetoast.