Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Use Your Infusion II

Welcome back everyone.  Just like Guns N’ Roses released Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 in the same year, I’m going for back to back infusion drinks. Thanks to a generous donation of ghost peppers from The Wee Baby Seamus, I was able to concoct my very own Ghost Pepper infused vodka. Here is the setup:

I decided to base this infusion recipe off of some other hot pepper vodka recipes I found online. Oddly enough, I found very few ghost pepper infusions. Does this make me crazy? Probably. Either way:

Vodka

1 Ghost Pepper (Bhut jolokia)

1 pair rubber gloves

1 750ml bottle of Vodka

1 sealable jar

Pour the vodka into the jar and reserve the bottle. While wearing the gloves, remove the top, de-seed and remove any membrane from the inside of the pepper. Drop into the vodka filled jar and infuse.

Because I’ve never had a ghost pepper before, I kept the infusion to a single pepper, and de-seeded it and took our the membranes inside the pepper, as that is where most of the capsaicin hides. I also capped the infusion at three hours. A decidedly conservative approach for sure, but for a first attempt, I deemed that to be the prudent decision. Once the infusion was finished, I fished out the pepper and tasted a small spoonful. The results were fantastic. There is most definitely a spicy zip in there for sure. I don’t know if I would drink this straight, but I deemed it drinkable, and the got to work thinking about what I could do with it.

I decided to re-visit an older post, the Brazen Bull . My biggest complaint with the version I made was that the vodka I had (Stoli Hot) was nowhere near hot enough for what I was going for. The bar that invented it uses their own Scotch Bonnet infused vodka, so their version is still the one to beat. Let’s see if we can beat it:

1½ ounces of ghost pepper vodka

¾ ounce fresh lime juice

¾ ounce simple syrup

1 lime wedge

In a shaker full of ice, add all ingredients. Shake vigorously. Pour into a lowball glass, garnish with lime wedge. Brace yourself.

Oh I needed to brace myself alright. That is so much better than the previous version. The heat really comes through this time. Now all the ingredients feel like they are in balance. This tastes exactly like the bar version, although hotter due to the different peppers.  This would be a fantastic base vodka for Bloody Marys as well. Since I have so many left over peppers, I think the next infusion I will attempt will be with tequila, since a spicy Margarita sounds really good.

Be careful playing with fire kids. It just might end up tasting delicious.

(Banner image found here)