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The Best Pepper Infused Tequilas to Warm Your Cockles
Infusing liquors is nothing new. For years, white spirits like vodka, gin and unaged rum have been artificially or naturally flavored with everything from herbs, fruits, coffee and botanicals.
Agave spirits, on the other hand, have been infused for generations.
Mixtures have ranged from scorpions and worms in mezcal. (Pechugas using meat, nuts or poultry are not necessarily considered infused, but we’ll lump them in here, too.) Anise and grapes are used in celebratory bacanoras, tropical fruits in pulque, and even snakes in sotol.
When it comes to infusions, the versatility of agave spirits certainly can’t be denied. In 2011, Boston bartender Chris Moran, set out to prove just that.
Moran began playing with an unlikely, albeit logical, ingredient — capsaicin — the active component of chili peppers. He settled on an admixture of blanco tequila with one of the hottest chili peppers in the world.
Thus, Ghost Tequila was born. More on this innovative brand, later. But first—
Firewalk With Us
For those of you who are capsaicin-adverse or otherwise chili impaired, the Scoville Heat Scale was invented by American pharmacist, Wilbur Scoville, in 1912.
The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency (spiciness or “heat”) of chili peppers, as recorded in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). But, don’t let the spiciness scare you.
When you bite into a chili pepper, the capsaicin fools your brain into thinking that the soft tissue in your mouth or mucous membranes is being burned. This activates the body’s pain receptors triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural pain-killing compounds.
The subsequent euphoria or “runner’s high” can help boost your sense of well-being.
Bonus — some chili peppers are also packed with more vitamin C than oranges.
From the Bottom Up
So, starting from least spicy to OMG!, tip-toe with us along the Scoville Heat Scale for the best chili-infused tequilas — and their peppers…
