Food - Drink
The Spicy Liqueur You Should Try Adding To Your Favorite Cocktails
BY WENDY LEIGH
Typical liqueur flavor profiles range from sassy to sweet, simple to complex, smoky, fruity, floral, bitter, nutty, and almost everything in-between. But one spicy Mexican liqueur stands out among many others, as it carries smoke and spice from roasted, dried chile peppers.
Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur is inspired by a type of handcrafted liqueur known as menjurjes, where ripened poblano chiles dry in the sun, becoming ancho chiles with a spicy essence. The dried ancho chile peppers are then saturated with a deep reddish-black hue, bearing an earthy, fruity flavor with notes of bitter chocolate.
The makers of the Ancho Reyes Chile have their own time-tested cocktail concoctions, including a Spicy Verde Margarita made with Ancho Reyes Verde. Liquor.com recommends trying Ancho Reyes in classic cocktails such as a daiquiri or Paloma, but you can also try the liqueur in its primitive form.