i thought i might first try to make a good bloody mary. i started with a recipe in food and wine cocktails 2009.

1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz hendricks gin
4 cherry tomatoes
tiny blob of horseradish
1/8 of a lime
1/8 of a lemon
1 inch green onion
pinch salt
pinch pepper

this was ok. i’m not really a bloody mary guy so i’m not a great judge. next time i would use maybe a couple more tomatoes, and less onion, or maybe red onion. the original recipe calls for a jalepeno, i would normally like that but maybe not for this application. i might try adding tarragon. the salt level was good. might need more pepper.

my plan is to top it with a honey paprika foam (egg white, honey, paprika. foamed with ikea foamer). i will try that soon.

…

this is a pretty good manhattan variant.

2 oz rye/bourbon combination
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz ikea blackcurrant syrup
1 dash/4 drops angostura bitters

1/2 oz tequila
1/2 oz lillet
1/4 oz luxardo orange

this is not very good at all. made drinkable (but not good) with a couple dashes of lemon.

here’s the bourbon and branch ‘improved sunrise‘.

loma bonita burner take #2

1 oz tequila
1/4 oz lemon
1/4 oz syrup
1 chunk pineapple
1 sliver jalepeno

its possible that the jalepeno had been sitting next to a green onion, and also possible that this improved the taste of the drink.

could be a little too sweet and/or is dependent upon the pineapple. fresh fruit is such a pain to deal with.

i think the infusion took on too much jalepeno. not the heat, which i like, but the grassiness. maybe i’ll try a serrano (as per joy of mixology), or a thai chili (since i liked it at the cuesa thing), maybe a habenero (because they are delicious as long they don’t make you claw your tongue off).

i’d like to try to incorporate the chardonnay to add another dimension and maybe some oak, but let’s be honest: wine is nasty. there’s a reason i stopped drinking it.

1/2 oz pineapple-jalepeno infused tequila
1/2 oz california chardonnay
1/4 oz lemon
1/4 syrup
1 chunk pineapple
1 sliver jalepeno

too much wine, too much sweetener. heat level just right. has promise.