Meet The Perfect Tequila For A Spicy Margarita Or A Fiery Bloody Maria

Even a proud brown spirits person like myself can admit that she enjoys a lighter libation now and then—particularly gin, mezcal, and tequila. But ever since New York has been on lockdown due to COVID-19, I haven’t exactly been pouring vats of whiskey. Truly.

Instead, my daily cravings for a refreshing afternoon margarita comes at approximately 5 p.m., just when the day starts to wind down. And as an immigrant of Southeast Asian descent who constantly longs for the spice-forward flavors of The Motherland, I’m always hankering for a spicy version.

Enter my new obsession: Ghost Tequila ($30), which infused with ghost pepper. And while many mistakenly believe this particular chili is the world’s hottest, it’s not. (But it still has a scorching score on the Scoville Scale—more than 1,000,000 SHU or about 400 times spicier than Tabasco sauce.)

Chris Moran, the CEO and cofounder of Ghost Tequila, spent more than 10 years bartending in Alaska, Boston, and the Virgin Islands. And he came up with the idea of ghost pepper-infused tequila so he could serve his spicy concoctions with a high degree of consistency.

“One of my favorite memories growing up were the trips to Mexico my family and I would go on each year. I fell in love with the culture and the tequila. From then on it was my go-to spirit. Years later I was fortunate enough to work in one of the first truly tequila-focused bars in Boston, where I had the opportunity to explore all its different expressions,” says Moran. “Though hardly a discovery, given the explosion of spicy cocktails over the last decade, I found that tequila and heat made for the ultimate match. I was shocked that nobody had created a brand that paired the two well. And I thought: You know, let’s make an amazing spicy tequila.”

As Moran very well knows, many cocktails benefit from spice—especially those anchored in un-aged distilled spirits. Think: the spicy Bloody Mary (or Maria); the spicy margarita; and the spicy Paloma—all of which I love to drink. The beauty of Ghost Tequila has everything to do with the fact that its heat is bold—but fleeting. You feel the kick almost instantly, and yet it fades into the background—highlighting the flavors of the other ingredients. For instance, using it in a spicy Bloody Maria creates a layer of complexity that cannot be achieved with horseradish alone.

“Making the perfect bloody is all about the quality of the tequila and bringing together these different flavor components—salty, sweet, vegetal, and most importantly, spicy. And you have to do that with the right balance,” Moran says. “Getting that ideal heat level is a challenge; you need just enough to know it’s there—like a spark on the tongue, not a firebrand. Ghost lends itself perfectly to a Bloody Maria by providing a consistent level of heat every time, and the agave-forward tequila also adds so much to the richness of the cocktail.”

Here, two spicy cocktail recipes that’ll add some oomph to your quarantine brunches and happy hours.

GHOST BLOODY MARIA

Ingredients:

2 oz. Ghost Tequila

2 oz. Bloody Mary mix of your choice

Method: Using a shaker, shake ingredients together and strain into a Add ice, garnish with celery, olives, lemon wedge, and salt-and-pepper rim.

GHOST SPICY MARGARITA

Ingredients:

2.5 oz. Ghost Tequila

1 oz. Freshly squeezed lime juice

0.5 oz. Agave nectar (or simple syrup, if you’re in a pinch)

Chile-salt (homemade or Casamigos brand red chile margarita salt)

Method: Shake all ingredients together with ice in a shaker. Strain into a salt-rimmed glass. Garnish with lime wheel.