Cachaca Leblon at Beekman Bar & Books

Sometimes in life, you have to take risks. Especially when they stare you in the face at eleven in the morning. Which, for the record, is the buttcrack of dawn for those of us who live ardently in The Sporting Life.

It was at eleven in the morning yesterday that I found myself in a produce aisle in Union Square with my boss and mentor, Ben Scorah, staring down a cadre of menacingly tantalizing Habanero Peppers.

To prep myself creatively, I'd dragged my roomie, Matt (who doesn't drink, by the way... or at least, not regularly) through a gauntlet of sugarcane spirits two nights before. We ID'd the primary notes in Leblon Cachaca. Leblon had buttery, tropical, and nutty notes. So sure... Leblon and banana. Leblon and pomegranate. Leblon and mango. Leblon and lime, naturally... Caipirinhas are practically Brazil's national libation.

But Leblon and... Habaneros?

I don't know if it was a sense of adventure, a need to be different, or simply lack of sleep that motivated me to reach out for a pound of the notorious "Scotch Bonnet" Habanero peppers, which eaten raw will smack even the sturdiest salsa afficionado into submission. But within minutes, I'd bagged a pound of the chromatic peppers with the highest Scoville Heat Rating on record (300,000 Scoville Heat Units, to be exact; for comparison, Tabasco Sauce weighs in at around 40,000 SHU's).

Habaneros are not for the faint of heart or the weak of tongue. And for my take on the classic Caipirinha, I was going to need to use them in the right combination and proportion. What's more, there was a real risk that too much pepper would overwhelm the drink with a wave of heat and knock out every other flavor in the cocktail.

By the time Ben and I got done buying the groceries and the glassware, flagged a taxi, loaded it full with supplies, and got back uptown to Beekman Bar & Books, it was noon. We had two hours to work out our four Leblon cocktails, hone the recipes, prep mixes and garnishes, clean our glasses and beautify the bar. The first three cocktails were relatively easy; Ben concocted the recipes for two of them almost right away, and we set to mixing them in punch bowls. The third, Brazilian Sangria, is an old tried-and-true recipe at Bar & Books, so we knew what we were getting into.

With the clock ticking, our gregarious barback, Rafi, was a godsend; somehow, he managed to be in fifty places at once. Thanks to his efforts, I had enough time to piece together the framework for Anaconda Cocktail.

The base would be a "standard" Caipirinha: Two ounces of Leblon, three slices of lime and two white sugar cubes. I'd add in three slices of mango, a splash of acai juice, and the smallest sliver of Habanero. I was about to press boldly forward, muddler in hand, when one of the Leblon crew happened to drop a Dimetapp shaped bottle filled with purple liquid down on the bar. "Experimental Acai Liqueur?" He offered.

Almost immediately, I was sold. There's already an Acai liqueur on the market called VeeV, but it's distilled solely from Acai juice, and lacks both the antioxidant power and the grainy taste that come from the skin of the Acai berry. This sweetness and the added taste of alcohol-- not to mention the graininess-- would come in handy from an Acai cordial in my cocktail and would level out the spiciness of the Habanero perfectly.

Team Leblon and friends. Ben's the one sporting the cane in the center.

Experimentation with the pepper levels followed. Ben suggested-- rightly-- that I cut out every pepper seed from the Habaneros I'd be muddling in the drink. Just one of those seemingly harmless seeds could easily destroy the whole cocktail right out of the starting gate. After using reknowned mixologist Colin Asare-Appiah's tongue as a guide (thanks, Colin, for being my guinea pig, and for your honest feedback!), I ended up using a quarter of a thin slice of pepper in each cocktail.

The results?

...

Well... I'll just leave you with the Photographic Evidence:

...

Junior Merino, The Liquid Chef (right), introducing
Anaconda Cocktail to Michael Anstendig and Jamie Keller.

Carmen Operetta of Libation Diaries, clearly thrilled with the spice.

Not everyone is a fan of hot pepper in their cocktails, but those who were regaled the drink with rave reviews. It was a total hit! Not to mention that it caught Lush Life's Leo Borovskiy's eye (thanks for the bully photos, Leo!):

Here is the recipe:


Anaconda Cocktail
Glass: Fiesta Grande
2 oz. Cachaca Leblon
1/4 oz. Acai Berry Liqueur (on the market soon, I hope)
3 Lime Wedges
3 Cubes Mango
1 very small, very THIN quarter slice of Habanero Pepper
Muddle fruits and pepper. Add liquor, shake with ice, and pour into the glass.
Garnish: A Habanero Pepper (which you can eat if you feel brave enough!)



That's all for now. Till Next Time, Happy Shaking!

Jake