Monday, November 7, 2011

Strawberry Habanero Fizz





This drink is a twist on a similar drink that I've had in the past, I made a few changes of course and it turned out much better than I thought it would. There is a little bit of preparation that goes into this one before you can get started but once the leg work is done you're really in for a treat. 

First thing you really need to do is make the habanero simple syrup, make it first so it has time to cool and the flavors can really get infused. For the simple syrup put one cup of water and one cup of fine sugar into a saucepan, chop two habanero peppers in half and put them into the water. Leave the seeds and all in the peepers this is where a lot of the heat comes from. Bring the water to a boil stirring occasionally, once the water has boiled remove from heat and strain immediately. Allow the simple syrup to cool.

The next thing you'll need here is the strawberry, this part is far less time consuming. You'll need about a pint of strawberries here or more depending on how many drinks you'll be making. Thoroughly rinse the strawberries and pat dry on some paper towels. Cut the stem end off the strawberries and put them right into a food processor. Now here is where you really get to play with things, I like the natural sweetness and tart flavors the strawberries offer themselves but feel free to put additional sugar, lemon juice, or both in the food processor as well. Pulse the strawberries until they are very well blended and smooth. Once this is done you'll need to strain the strawberry puree to get the small seeds out, I find the a French press work very well. 

Ok you're ready to begin building your Strawberry Habanero Fizz!

First you’ll need to decide if a salted rim glass is what you want, if so start by rubbing a wedge of lime around the rim of the your rocks glass to wet it. Once the rim is wet gently dip the rim side of the glass into a plate of kosher salt.

1 ½ oz Blanco Tequila (I like Don Julio)
1 ½ oz Strawberry Puree
¾ oz Habanero Simple Syrup
½ oz Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
½ oz Cointreau
1 oz of soda water

Place all ingredients, minus soda water into an iced shaker, shake vigorously for about ten seconds. Strain into prepared rocks glass with a large piece of ice. Garnish drink with a lime wedge. Top the drink off with a splash of soda water and you’re ready to go.
 
 Definitely play with the amount of simple syrup and strawberry puree you put into this one and see what you like best. You may find mine to be a bit too spicy for your liking or maybe even a bit too sweet.

Let me know what you think and if you have something that I need to try next time around.

4 comments:

  1. Everyone needs to try this....it's my favorite...amazing.

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  2. This sounds amazing! I'm gonna try it. Do you think I could use frozen strawberries?

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  3. Hey Katie,of course you can use frozen strawberries, just thaw them out and make the puree the same way you would if they were fresh. You'll really like this drink trust me on this one, it's Kayla's all time favorite.

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  4. Excellent! Now I just have to convince Evan that it won't be too spicy.

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