Wednesday, February 4, 2009

the crushed ice might save you.

There are a LOT of trendy cocktails out there - some are given clever names in the hopes that people will want to sound hip and order one, some are coasting on a television or movie mention (JD and his appletinis, for example. Speaking of, how awesome is it that Scrubs is back,and by back I mean better than ever? Way to go, smart people at ABC.).

And some are just plain GOOD. One of my new favorites is served at Red, sometimes. (Sometimes, because there's no guarantee that what you order is what you actually get - it's part of the enticing and sometimes exceedingly frustrating package that is Red.) It is called a very small chihuahua, because it includes tequila. Habanero-infused tequila, which was the first thing to catch my eye. Just like the nursery rhyme, when it's good, it's very very good. Spicy and citrusy and refreshing. (When it's bad, it's not horrid, just weird - not enough habanero, too much mint, too much sugar - more like a mojito, which is a fine drink, but not the same thing at all.)

The ingredients list looked straightforward, so I decided to make it myself, despite not knowing a thing about infused alcohol. Here's my version:

2 oz. habanero-infused silver tequila*
2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice
2 oz. simple syrup
2 fresh mint leaves, shredded
1 T cilantro leaves, shredded (I just lost Kevin - sorry, Kevin.)

Muddle the leaves with the simple syrup in the bottom of a rocks glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add the tequila and lime juice, and stir. With the first sip your lips should burn a little bit, and a couple of sips later you'll be addicted.

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*Handle a habanero like it's radioactive material. Seriously. Wear gloves, don't let any part of it touch anything else in your kitchen, and scrub EVERYTHING down with super-hot water and lots of dish soap. Everyone's heat tolerance is a little different, but I used a single pepper, halved, with most of the seeds removed, and stuck it in the bottle for around 18 hours. And that was wayyyyy too long. Test it at 6 hours, and maybe again at 12. ANYTHING you touch, wash the hell out of. I was washing dishes after cleaning up, and somehow a little bit of oil got on the lid of my coffee cup, and every day for a week now, despite several serious scrubbings with boiling water and lots of grease-removing soap, my lips are a little burny with my morning coffee. But it was totally worth it.