According to Nation’s Restaurant News, spicy cocktails are the newest trend for bartenders across the country. From a slight tingle to full on hot, dialing up the spice at the bar is the best way to liven up cocktails.
The tool kit being used behind the bar include chiles in various guises, fresh ginger and other asian spices, according to mixologists.
“There is kind of an upturn of spicy cocktails,” said Thomas Gullo, mixologist at Zengo in Santa Monica, California, one of the 23 eateries in New York City-based Richard Sandoval Restaurants. “Some people are sick and tired of a typical margarita or a mojito and they like some muddled jalapeno or togarashi spice to step it up.”
Zengo has a leg up in this area because their cuisine is Latin and Asian inspired. Its Tamarind-Togarashi Margarita shows the twin influences; flavored with house-made tamarind puree, spiked with silver tequila and served in a glass rimmed with togarashi salt. The salt is made by combining togarashi, a piquant Japanese seven-spice blend, with salt and other seasonings.
Tad Carducci, part of the cocktail consulting duo called the Tippling Bros., reported “a huge spike in cocktails with heat in the past year.”
“Chiles affect the body of a cocktail and all the expressions of it,” he said. “Chiles also elicit the same feelings in a person as being in love does. They flush the face and make the lips swell, all those things that we associate with being infatuated or in love. Obviously, most people enjoy that feeling, so I think there is a correlation.”
According to Ben Schiller, a mixologist of the contemporary American spot Boka Restaurant and Bar in Chicago, drinks with heat are “steadily increasing in popularity. Everything that is a food trend, the bar is just playing catch-up to.”
