Honey Pepper Rascal, a Beer Cocktale

Now, before anyone accuses me of only writing about cocktails anymore, let me just say that a lot of thought goes into these cocktails that I enjoy. Flavor profiles are considered, of course. What’s a flavor profile? Let’s save that for another day.

First, I have a story. Last spring I caught an Alton Brown show on making a black pepper infused vodka. I am a big fan of the Bloody Mary, so I was super excited to make black pepper vodka for my summer libations. I followed his instructions, but not exactly. I added too many peppercorns and let them infuse way too long. The result was more like a black pepper extract than a black pepper vodka. It was disgusting.

But, lucky me… I happen to have the esteemed Evan Faber, formerly of SALT the Bistro, as a spirits and cocktails advisor. He took on that role some time this past winter (unbeknownst to him:), so after months of letting my unpalatable pepper vodka sit in the freezer, I reached out for help. Turns out there is a traditional Russian drink of vodka flavored with honey and pepper. To make a long story short, I cut my vodka with more vodka and added some dehydrated honey powder I picked up at Savory Spice Shop. After a little more waiting I wound up with a really delicious honey pepper vodka.

And now it’s time to play! So, taking some inspiration from Dan Mirsky, the man formerly in charge of beverages at The Pinyon, I made a beer cocktail. Dan suggested a ratio of 1 oz liquor to 6 oz beer, and that’s what I made here.

• 1 oz honey pepper vodka
• 6 oz Avery White Rascal Belgian-Style White Ale
• juice of 1/2 lemon

I used a Avery’s White Rascal for two reasons: 1) Avery is the best local brewery in Boulder and 2) white ales have a lighter flavor profile that goes well with citrus (the lemon) and would compliment the spice from black pepper and the sweet from honey. White beer allows these added flavors to come through and create a cocktail rather than be hidden in a darker beer.

So, let’s start talking about beer cocktales. (Get it? cockt-ALES. Did I need to point that out?) They’re the new frontier of cocktails for me. I think 2011 is going to be the summer of beer cocktales!