Some Like It Hot
Ingredients
Garnish
- Chili powder
- Salt
- Lime wedges
- Fresh mint leaves, optional
Cocktail
- 4 chunks of watermelon, muddled
- ¾ ounce Three-Chili Syrup (see below)
- ¾ ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 ounce aperol
- 2 ounces silver tequila or mezcal
Three-Chili Syrup
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 jalapeño pepper
- 3 ancho peppers
- 1 cup water
- ¾ cup sugar
Instructions
Cocktail
Combine equal parts chili powder and salt in a small dish. Using a lime wedge, wet the top rim of a cocktail glass and dip the glass into the chili-salt garnish. Fill it with ice and set aside. Place the cocktail ingredients in a shaker and fill with ice, then shake. Pour the cocktail into the garnished glass. Top with a lime wedge and a sprig of mint.Three-Chili Syrup
Remove seeds from the poblano and jalapeño peppers and chop. (If you want your cocktail extra spicy, leave the seeds in.) Add the chopped peppers and the whole ancho peppers to a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Add sugar, stirring often so it doesn’t burn. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, cool and store in a jar in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. You can adapt this syrup to your taste. If you like it hotter, use more jalapeños and less sugar. If you like it sweeter, use more ancho peppers and more sugar. I like mine heavy on the anchos with less jalapeño and less sugar. A good premade option is Three Chile Organic Simple Syrup by Royal Rose Syrups.
