How dreadful that it’s been practically three weeks since I last updated anything in The Quaff category. Well, I’ve been behind on all my posting in general, but I’m determined to catch up, beginning with a new addition to this category. I’m happy to report I have a fun item that I whipped up with my friends Sly and Aletheia, who were both present at the very first “Fresh Cocktail Hour” two years ago, which centered on homemade Bloody Marys. Since then, anytime my friends and I convene to crank out some libations from scratch, we call it “Fresh Cocktail Hour,” and so as you can imagine, having the original F.C.H. trio back in action was quite the momentous occasion (Aletheia unfortunately lives in another city).
Anyway, in an effort to out-do ourselves once again, we turned again towards my favorite cocktail book, Organic, Shaken, and Stirred (which about six of my friends have now purchased — you’re welcome, Paul Abercrombie). We wanted a cocktail that seemed new and different, and so we decided on the Roasted Red Pepper Julep. Our journey after the jump…
Can’t have a roasted red pepper julep without the roasted red peppers. Each lady placed a pepper on a burner and began roasting. It soon became quite the heated (no pun intended) competition as to who could blacken their her fastest.
Aletheia tends to her pepper.
While we wait on the peppers, we enjoy some Snap-Pea-Irinhas. And for some reason, I’m showing a mango core to the camera. Did I mention that we were already a few margaritas deep from dinner?
Fast forward twenty minutes: the peppers have finished roasting (Sly’s won, I think), and we’ve let them sit in a covered bowl. Now Sly gets to work removing the loosened skins, making a mess of my already messy sink in the process.
The first pepper is done.
A horrid surprise greets us in the second pepper. There’s some sort of mutant growth inside. We are all grossed out, but duty calls. We discard the disconcerting pepper-fetus and press on. This, meanwhile, explains why Aletheia’s pepper took so much longer to roast.
A quick whir in the magic bullet, and our peppers are now a bright red purée.
In a pitcher, Aletheia gets to work muddling oodles of mint and simple syrup.
Now it’s time for me to commence the assembly process.
Mixing the red pepper purée with the muddled mint and simple syrup. For some reason, it looks like I just got out of bed.
My face seems to register apprehension. Its roots are unclear to me now.
Now I just look like I might bust out a Slingblade accent.
Intense colors…
Just a slight mess, thanks in no small part to the mango Sly was noshing on.
Oh yes. The booze. The recipe calls for bourbon; so I bust out the Gentleman Jack that J-Unit gave me on my 30th birthday.
Precise measurements ensue.
Continued mixing.
A brief peregrination to the fridge. What ever shall I return with??
Club soda! You’ll also notice that we’re using an entirely too large pitcher for our drinks.
The final touches…
A few stirs later, and you can see we have a fizzy, colorful concoction.
Admittedly, it does look sort of like thin vomit.
SinkSASTER.
The plan was to drink these cocktail on my roof; so we happily collect some ice in a bag for the excursion. I’m happy to report that I now have an ice bucket that shall be reviewed on this site in the near future.
The pitcher. Again, too big. Way too big.
Thanks in part to our pre-existing drunken states and perhaps a general eagerness to just dive into the drinks, the three of us then forgot to take any further pictures, including both the final cocktail and/or our reactions to drinking it.
Needless to say, the roasted red pepper julep was very well received. Heck, it was pretty awesome. The smokiness of the peppers mixed with the aromatics of the mint and the sweetness of the simple syrup was both literally and figuratively intoxicating. The only complaint: the yield is low. Plus, for those who are sensitive about textures, this is a rather thick drink. But don’t let that deter you. The roasted red pepper julep was a tasty and unconventional beverage, and I can assure you with the utmost authority that it tastes even better when you’re sipping it down in a hot tub…
I like how you have vitamins with your booze.
Peregination?! Damn! I’ll bet that word hasn’t been used since Mark Twain died! 🙂
after being projectile-vomited on by an orangutan, I can assure you that your libation does indeed look like vomit. I’m glad you enjoyed it though.
There are few drinks (involving alcohol) in my life that I either haven’t tried or won’t try. I will never try this.
By the way the green things in your peppers were actually baby peppers, sprouting too early.
Who needs an ice bucket when you can re-use a Target bag? It adds to the ambience, no?