A "hot" trend in mixed drinks has found it's way to the Portland metro area. Restaurants are serving wonderful cold drinks using less sugar and adding peppers for a savory drink. The best news though is that we can replicate the cocktails at home. I like that a lot.
I had a martini earlier in the summer at a Peruvian restaurant called Andina in the trendy Pearl District, Portland. It was made with vodka seasoned with habanero peppers, passion fruit served with a sugared rim (plus a bit of chili pepper I think). They have named the drink Sacsayhuaman (pronounced: sexy woman). Absolut has vodka called Peppar and that may have been the alcohol Adina's used. The taste is out of this world. I thought I had died and gone Hollywood.
Today I see that Food TV has posted a recipe for making your own peppered vodka. They suggested adding 2 tablespoons of cracked peppercorns to a bottle of vodka and letting it steep for a week. Strain the vodka through a fine strainer and store in a sterile bottle. I love a good martini so I will be trying this.
Emeril Legasse suggests 12 ounces pepper vodka, 1 1/2 oz. vermouth and jalapenos for garnish. When shaken with ice this will serve 4 people. I suppose a little passion fruit juice could be added to give the drink a little fruit layer of flavor.
We are now seeing a "hot" new cocktail mix put out by Vibe, a small business located in Vancouver Washington. We can buy it now at our local outdoor markets and is distributed online. The Spicy Margarita Natural Agave Cocktail Mix makes the best summer drink I have tasted in a long time. It is the perfect balance of spicy and sweet with a little bite on the back of your tongue. If you are turned off by a sweet, icky margarita like I am, I think you might like this flavor twist.
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