Lucy Liu

David Muhs | Brooklyn, New York

photo: Eric Medsker
Spicy Tequila Cocktail

At Brooklyn’s Sama Street, Asian-inspired cocktails spotlight ingredients like pandan, galangal and yuzu. The bar’s Lucy Liu, a creamy, fruit-forward drink, puts a novel spin on the “spicy, with tequila” template: Rather than using a chile tincture or infusion, the bar makes a chile oil–washed blanco tequila that brings a tingling sensation and a rounded mouthfeel. The ingredient fits well into tropical drinks, like this one, but it is also versatile in agave classics like Margaritas and Palomas.

Ingredients

Serving: 1

  • 1 1/2 ounces chile oil–washed blanco tequila (see Editor’s Note)
  • 1 1/2 ounces chile oil–washed blanco tequila (see Editor’s Note)
  • 2 ounces lychee juice
  • 2 ounces lychee juice
  • 1 ounce cream of coconut
  • 1 ounce cream of coconut
  • 1/2 ounce Filipino rum, preferably Don Papa
  • 1/2 ounce Filipino rum, preferably Don Papa
  • 1/2 ounce lime juice
  • 1/2 ounce lime juice

Garnish: orchid

Directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled.
  2. Strain into a Hurricane glass and top with crushed ice.
  3. Garnish with an orchid.
Editor's Note

Chile Oil–Washed Blanco Tequila
3 ounces chile oil
1 broken dried puya chile (optional)
1 broken dried Thai chile
1 liter of blanco tequila

Combine the chile oil, puya chile, Thai chile and blanco tequila in a container. (For a simpler chile oil wash, simply combine chile oil and tequila.) Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours while stirring occasionally. Freeze for 24 hours so that the chile oil freezes solid. Strain the solids from the tequila, then bottle.

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