13 Hot and Spicy Cocktails to Make at Home
November 01, 2022 by Sonja Edridge
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If you love fiery flavours, embrace the heat with our list of spicy cocktails. We’ve got every level of spiciness, as measured by the Scoville scale, to suit your flame tolerance. Get ready to turn up the heat!
1. Bloody Maria
The Bloody Maria recipe is a twist on a classic Bloody Mary, and if you prefer tequila to vodka, then this cocktail has your name on it. To make one, shake up 60 ml good tequila with 120 ml tomato juice. Add a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon of horseradish, 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to taste. Add a pinch of celery salt and black pepper, and garnish like there’s no tomorrow!
Make it with: Esplolòn Tequila Blanco
2. Spicy Margarita
Add some heat to your classic Margarita and try our Spicy Margarita. Grab that jar of jalapeños from your fridge and get mixing. If you’re hosting a Mexican-themed party and have invited a crowd, then it’s a perfect recipe to bulk up serve from a pitcher.
Make it with: Grand Marnier.
3. Habanero Blood Orange Margarita
The Habanero Blood Orange Margarita is a refreshing twist on the classic with a complex sweet-citrus boost of blood orange juice and orange liqueur. Mix in the bitterness of Campari, the fire of a habanero and the kick of tequila, and you’ll have one of the best Margaritas for the books.
4. Pineapple Chilli Margarita
In foodie land, pineapple and chilli are the perfect pairing, and in mixology, it’s absolute bliss. Mix up our Habanero Blood Orange Margarita recipe above, but give it a few tweaks. Add a sweet-and-spicy tajín rim to your glass and swap the blood orange juice for fresh pineapple juice. If you like it extra spicy, add a few drops of hot sauce.
5. Michelada
Loosely translated from Spanish, Michelada means “my cold beer”. If you like a brewski, then our Mexican Beer Michelada will be right up your alley. It has all the savoury vibes of a Bloody Mary and Bloody Maria but it’s mixed with beer and lime juice. If you’re game, go the authentic route and stir it up with clamato (clam and tomato) sauce.
Brewski fans, read on: 10 Beer Cocktails For The Win
6. Spicy Paloma
The Paloma is Mexico’s number one cocktail and is a tangy, zesty mix of grapefruit juice, lime juice and club soda. To make a Spicy Paloma, replace the agave sweetener with an easy-to-make jalapeño simple syrup. It’s got quite a kick, so sip our sunny cocktail slowly and pair it with fish tacos or spicy BBQ wings for a perfect match!
7. Hot in Rio
The irresistible Hot in Rio cocktail is made with cachaça, a sweet and spicy distilled spirit made from fermented sugarcane juice. If you’re a fan of Caipirinha, then you’ll be familiar with this spirit. To make this bold, tasty cocktail combine 60 ml cachaça, the juice of a freshly squeezed lime, and 15 ml sweet agave in a cocktail shaker. Add in three lime wedges and three slices of serrano chilli with a pinch of salt, then give it a good shake. Strain it into a tumbler and garnish with a lime wedge and sliced chilli.
8. Jalapeño Mezcal Mule
The gorgeous and classic Moscow Mule is probably the most well-known cocktail made with ginger beer. When you give a Moscow Mule a spicy mezcal twist, something magical happens. The smokey mezcal partners with the tropical lime, ginger beer and jalapeño, and sends it into another dimension. To make one, muddle three lime wedges with a few slices of jalapeños, then follow our Moscow Mule recipe but ditch the vodka for mezcal.
Make it with: Montelobos Mezcal.
9. Mango and Serrano Chilli Daiquiri
This is the perfect cocktail to serve when it’s hot outside and you’re craving an icy Daiquiri to cool you down. To make one, follow our easy Mango Daiquiri recipe, but instead of using a regular simple syrup, mix up a serrano version. Couldn’t be easier!
Make it with: Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum.
10. Cucumber Wasabi Martini
Make our Cucumber Wasabi Martini when you want to impress your friends with your home bar skills. To make this showstopper cocktail, just follow our Cucumber Martini recipe and add a dollop of wasabi paste into the mix to shake up this spicy drink.
Make it with: SKYY Vodka
11. Spicy Jalapeño Gimlet
To make our Spicy Jalapeño Gimlet, shake up 2 oz of gin or vodka with 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice. Add ½ oz of easy jalapeño simple syrup (in place of the regular), shake it up over ice and strain it over a spicy rimmed glass over fresh ice.
Make it with: Bulldog Gin
12. Firecracker
The Firecracker is a feisty cocktail brimming with zesty lime and sweet watermelon. Made with a blend of rum, orange liqueur, watermelon, lime juice, simple syrup and a dash of cayenne pepper to give it a spicy kick, it’s easy to make and perfect for those who enjoy an adventurous drink.
Make it with: Appleton Estate Rum.
13. Habanero Martini
This spicy drink has quite a kick, thanks to the habanero garnish, but it’s not as hot as you might think. The recipe follows the Classic Martini format but swaps gin for reposado tequila and olives for a habanero chilli, which infuses the cocktail with a tantalizing heat. You can also swap out the habanero for a jalapeño or serrano pepper instead. One word of warning though: unlike a regular Martini where you can eat the olive garnish, you definitely shouldn’t eat the chilli.
