A Spicy Dink Review
- Jun 11, 2016
- 3 min read
Back in February, in my post "What makes a party a cocktail party different than other parties?" I said I would review more of Kara Newman's books. I was really looking forward to her newest book "Shake, Stir, Sip: More than 50 Effortless Cocktails Made in Equal Parts". But, it i still on pre-order at Amazon.com so I got "Spice & Ice" instead.
Now, I am not a person who loves spice - unless that spice is garlic and salt. Even black pepper is a bit much for my tastes. But almost everyone else I know loves hot spicy food -- Dina included. I browsed skeptically through the color photos of pepper-laden drinks in Spice and Ice. As before, Kara didn't let me down. Her discussion about why to try spicy drinks, her helpful advice on what to do if you drink something too hot (eat dairy or bread) , how to calm down a too spicy drink before you serve it ("a spoon full of sugar"), and how to choose the right pepper helped to prepare me for the spicy drink experience. Still, I timidly picked 2 drinks to test.
First up was Sparkling Ginger Daisy. I picked this one because Dina likes gin and there is no pepper in it. The spice for this drink is ginger. And after trying it we gave it 5 stars out of 5 stars for easy of preparation and taste. It doesn't hurt that the drink also calls for Champagne - how can you go wrong with Champagne?
Next up was 24-Carrot Cocktail. This was a double adventure because it calls for carrot juice and spiced vodka - neither of which have I tried before. But it sounded good and almost healthy and looked even better after I prepared it. Full disclosure - Kara's recipe calls for Horseradish infused vodka which is originally why I picked it - I like horseradish - a bit. I thought for sure the liquor store would have it. There is a brand out there (Sputnik Horseradish Vodka) but my liquor store didn't have it so I used Peppar Vodka by Absolut instead.
Again the Spice and Ice drink got 5 out of 5 stars for easy preparation and a really YUMMY taste. It was like spring exploded in my mouth. The pepper was there but it seemed to enhance the carrot flavor, brighten the fresh mint and didn't overwhelm me or send me running for cheese and bread.
Spice & Ice is wonderful book with some great drink ideas for every pallet - even mine.
Overall I gave the book 2 boxes for ease of use. Mostly because of the infusing and rimming the glasses with freshly crushed things. If it weren't for that it would have easily gotten 1 box.
An added bonus that the book offers, which I now look for in all my cookbooks, is that the drinks are organized by season. This makes it easy to choose seasonally fresh ingredients and helps ensure the drinks you choose have the right notes for the occasion and weather (e.g. no hot drinks in summer).
If you are not ready to run out and get a spicy drink book like Spice & Ice there are some online resources you should check out:
Wherever you get your drink recipes be adventurous and try something SPICY! Please drop me a line and let me know your favorite spicy drink? Or even better let me know how it goes when you try your next spicy drink.
Cheers!
Bash-in-a-Box does not receive payment for our blog posts. We reference books and websites and restaurants because we find them interesting and they relate to Bash-in-a-Box. We are not responsible for web content at other sites.
Comments