The Story Behind The Pepper Smash #2
This cocktail comes to us from Ryan Magarian, a bar industry pro with a unique ability to make delicious drinks from unexpected ingredients and flavor combinations.
This one features aquavit and has a tasty, savory profile. “I began messing around with bell peppers in different sorts of drinks,” Magarian says, and this one, Pepper Smash #2, “turned out to be the best of the bunch… It’s something I can envision the Mad Hatter knocking down after a long day bumping around Wonderland."
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Krogstad Aquavit
- ¾ ounce fresh lime juice
- ¾ ounce freshly extracted yellow bell pepper juice
- 1/2 ounce Grade A maple syrup, blended into 1/4 ounce room-temperature water
- Mint leaves, to muddle and for garnish
Directions
- Add about 12 mint leaves and your maple syrup to the bottom of an empty cocktail shaker tin.
- Gently muddle the mint leaves in the syrup.
- Add the other ingredients and ice, and shake to combine.
- Strain over fresh ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a healthy sprig of mint.
