Cocktail recipes do not just revolve around sugar, lime and mint. Bartenders keep experimenting with different ingredients to give you the best of an experience in a glass. Spices have garnered quite a fan following across the globe, with more and more bartenders adding different kinds to classic and new cocktails.
Here are 5 popular spices that are most commonly used in cocktails today
1. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is not commercially available just for your chole and rajma, people. It plays a bigger role in our lives. It is widely used to make some boozylicious cocktails around the globe, with the most popular being a cinnamon Old Fashioned.
It is widely used by bartenders to add a burst of flavours in classic cocktails such as a Martini, Whiskey Sour and Bourbon Cider.
2. Black Pepper
If you are like me who only uses black pepper when soup or eggs are on the menu, no need to feel good. A Bloody Mary is incomplete without some black pepper in it, and if Bloody Mary isn’t your drink, a black pepper Gibson or Martini should cheer you up.
3. Cardamom
If you fancy cardamom in tea but despise it in Biryani, a cardamom Long Island Iced Tea will be a wonderful delight for your boozy times.
Cardamom goes really well with mint and rose-flavoured cocktails, and a cardamom Old Fashioned is enjoyed by many around the world. Keep some cardamom syrup with you if you make cocktails at home and you are good to go!
4. Cloves
If you have explored cloves only through chicken curry or toothpaste, it’s sad. But worry not, we are here to impart some gyaan.
Clove powder is used in cold and frozen cocktails, the most popular being frosty Sangrias and Cider cocktails. It also gels well with whiskey and rum drinks.
5. Cayenne
Cayenne, Lal Mirchi Powder as we know it, is not a spice for everyone. But if you are one of the few people who have a strong stomach and no tear ducts, try a Bodhicitta or a Bloody Murder – a distant cousin of Bloody Mary.
Cayenne, along with salt, is also used on the glass rim to give you a kick before alcohol touches your tongue. Why not give it a shot and tell us what you think?
