Happy mid December Friday everyone. Why the Heatmeiser title? This week we’re making a drink that involves a little bit of spice! Granted, when I say a little bit, I do mean a little. The Little Bit Country from the Please Don’t Tell cocktail book is made with a little bit of jalapeno. So, definitely not the hottest pepper out there, or the hottest pepper I’ve featured in a drink before. But, I do like a little bit of a happy mouth burn when it comes to food and drink, so I’m excited to try this one.

Little Bit Country

2 oz. Bulleit Bourbon

.75 oz. Lemon juice

.5 Deep mountain grade B maple syrup

.25 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur

1 1/4 inch Jalapeno slice with a few seeds

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 dash Orange bitters

Muddle the jalapeno with the maple syrup. Add everything else and shake with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a flamed orange twist.

The nose has mostly notes of the maraschino liqueur, with some lemon mixed in. The orange bitters also contribute to the overall bight and clean scent this cocktail has. I like what it has going on here. To be honest, I wasnt sure what to expect given the citrus and the syrup going in here, but the citrus and maraschino aromas win that battle.

The sip starts out sweet and citrusy. The lemon and maraschino make a better than expected flavor paring that lasts throughout the sip. Neither overtakes the drink flavor wise, so they help maintain the balance. The maple syrup adds a nice underlying depth here. It’s really the perfect sweetener for this application really. It cuts through the lemon, orange bitters and the maraschino liqueur, all while not making the rest of the drink overly saccharine, to the point of undrinkability. I actually ended up making this with rye,  not bourbon as the recipe calls for, but I think it works here. In fact, I might prefer rye. I can taste a bit more of the rye here than I might be able to taste this if I made it with bourbon. The sip ends with the aforementioned lemon cherry liqueur combination lingering on the palate. It doesn’t last very long though, so back to back sips don’t  have a compounding flavor affect as some others I’ve reviewed.

The one thing I would improve about this is the heat level. In this drink’s defense, a jalapeno’s heat level can vary wildly between pepper to pepper. Unfortunately for me, the pepper I used for this was solidly in the mild category. I even left in a few more seeds than what the recipe called for just to hedge my bets here. Sadly, there was little to no heat in this. I got a faint mouth burn at the end of the drink itself. but I was left wanting.

I did like this. I want to try it again with another jalapeno to see if I can get more heat. I’ll add more of the pepper itself as well as more seeds next time, since that is where the capsaicin hides out. I would advise against switching peppers though.   I feel that anything more than that mild kind of heat might overpower the drink and make it unpleasant to drink if it is too spicy. Also, I think this is more of a one and done cocktail for me. The half ounce of syrup provides a surprising amount of body to this. Plus, I’m not sure I want to drink an ounce of syrup if I have two of these.

(Banner image found here)