Greetings, Wonketeers! I’m Hooper, your bartender. I was looking for a way to use up a bottle of Aperol that’s lurking in my liquor cabinet when I stumbled across the inspiration for this rough beast of a drink. How does a spicy cherry cocktail strike you for a cold winter night? Let’s make a Cherry Poppin’ Devil. Here’s the recipe:
Cherry Poppin’ Devil
1 ¼ oz. Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
¾ oz. Cherry Heering
½ oz. chili-infused Aperol
½ oz. lemon juice
Barspoon of Amarena or Luxardo cherry syrup
1 dash orange bitters
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds, until the shaker is painfully cold. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with a Luxardo or Amarena cherry.
Chili-Infused Aperol
8 oz. Aperol
1 serrano chili pepper
Heat the oven to 450. Roast the serrano chili for 10-15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes, until the chili is shriveled or popped. Place the chili in a small jar and muddle gently. Add the Aperol, seal the jar, and shake lightly. Let sit for 10 minutes – yes, just 10 minutes. Strain into a small bottle and refrigerate. The liqueur will be good for six months.
This cocktail was inspired by the Satan’s Circus cocktail, written in 2013 by Leo Robitschek for the NoMad Library Bar of New York. The name of that drink… well, it seems to capture the zeitgeist of our current days. And the infused Aperol had my interest. Infusions I’ve made in the past take days to reach peak flavor. Infusing a liqueur for ten minutes intrigued me.
Turns out that it takes very little time for the capsaicin in chilis to transfer to alcohol. It also turns out that I need to learn more about chilis. The original recipe for infused Aperol used a red Thai bird’s eye chili pepper. Serrano peppers are close in heat levels, but a green chili has a more fruity, vegetal flavor than a mature red one. I think I’ll keep playing with this infusion and see what different chilis bring to the table. Chipotle peppers would bring a smoky note to a drink that could be excellent with an aged tequila. Fresh habaneros also have my attention. Ghost peppers? I’m not a masochist.
In the end, I decided to stick with a roasted green serrano chili as my infusing agent in the Aperol. I’m certain that the result is more fruity than a red Thai chili. Instead of shrugging and letting the base recipe stand, I decided to change the proportions of the original drink to work around this variation of the Aperol. As I tasted, fiddled, and adjusted, I decided to focus on the cherry Heering and make this a “spicy cherry” cocktail. The spicy rye supports the Heering, the Aperol emphasizes the fruit, and the pepper puts an exclamation point on the whole thing. Once I made that choice, a cherry garnish seemed obvious. After that, a barspoon of cherry syrup from the jar seemed like the next step, but then that sweetness needed a slug of orange bitters to make it sing along with the other ingredients. The final result has strong cherry notes with spice that’s provocative, but not undrinkable. This is a sipper that’s also warming and intriguing. I’d be happy to put it on a bar menu.
Let’s talk ingredients:
Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey: No, it’s got nothing to do with Kyle. It’s a very good, spicy, 100 proof whiskey with the flavor needed to cut through the lower-proof ingredients in the drink and make a statement. Use Bulleit Rye as an alternative if you really hate the name.
Cherry Heering: This herbal cherry liqueur needs some careful handling to truly bloom. Tasted neat, Cherry Heering tastes like cough syrup. As a secondary ingredient, it expands and reveals its full potential.
Chili Aperol infusion: This has quite a kick to it, but the citrus notes of Aperol still shine through. It would make a great margarita ingredient for the summer… used sparingly.
Lemon juice: Always fresh, never bottled.
Amarena cherry syrup: This is the rich red stuff that premium cherries are stored in. I’ve been known to pour a little into my old fashioneds to sweeten them. You can use Luxardo cherries, but Amarena are cheaper and pretty easy to get at Trader Joe’s.
Orange bitters: A little seasoning to encourage all the flavors in the drink to harmonize.
In summary and conclusion, drink well, drink often, and tip your bartender — donate to Wonkette at the link below!
We aren’t linking to Amazon anymore, because fuck Bezos. Go read The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia instead. This book will tell you everything you could want to know about the spicy veggie, so you can stay warm inside even when it’s bitterly cold outdoors.
You can find me on Bluesky at @samuraigrog!
OPEN THREAD! DRINK!
