NY got really cold this week.  Sure I’ve seen colder in the midwest, but my personal Absolute Zero is around 35 – anything below that is in one big category of inexplicable cold.  Given the temps, I was not surprised when EE requested something warming (but not warm) as an aperitif.

I feel challenged by making cold but warming drinks.  This is silly because all alcohol is warming, right?  True, but there is something to the way a drink looks, smells, and plays on the tongue that warms or chills well before ethyl becomes your mental tauntaun.  For example, I would argue that a Martini is an arctic drink (not just cold, but downright glacial, which is kind of awesome) while a Gin & Tonic is refreshingly cold (more like a June breeze or snow cone).  On the warming side – ignoring hot drinks – Egg Nog is warming (more a promise of warmth, like a cold pair of gloves) while a Pink Zipper is hot!  Damn hot!

A Pink Zipper (it’s pinker in reality)

Aspects of Hotness (in a Pink Zipper, that is…)

• Color – a subtle warming pink
• Tequila – it comes from hot places and retains that heat in the form of Midi-Chlorians, a special six molecule nano-carbon sub-atomical hot neutron plasma structure unique to plants grown south of the Freeze Your Keister line (this line is said to be moving south due to climate change – it even temproarily dipped south of Houston this month)
• Plasma (see Tequila) – the sun is made out of plasma, this stuff literally provides all warmth we known to Earth.  No plasma, no heat, no nothing (may not be entirely true as tectonic effects may generate some heat without a sun, but I’m not sure)
• Jalapeno (sorry, I’m not sure how to get a tilde on my ‘n’) – also from south of the FYK, jalapenos have a very high concentration of Midi-Chlorians, but still have a father whereas Habaneros may have been conceived by Midi-Chlorians
• Ginger – Not a Midi-Chlorian source, but totally has zip

The other ingredients are important too, though, because they make the drink balanced and enjoyable instead of searing and lethal – like the ozone layer!

Ingredients

1/2 Jalapeno-infused tequila

1/2 Tequila

2/3 Cointreau

1/2 a lime’s juice

1/3 Pomegranate juice

1/3 Agave nectar

1/4 ginger juice

Some frozen cranberries

Combine in a shaker and shake vigorously.  Serve up and garnish with frozen cranberries (or small jalapenos).

A few notes:

• The balance of infused/non-infused tequila depends on how strong your infused tequila is – use your judgment
• Infusing cranberries into the jalapeno tequila would be one more step of awesomeness
• May the force be with you