Contents
Do you think that only we drink peppercorns? No matter how! Severe winters happen all over the planet, the warming properties of pepper and alcohol are also known to many nations – it would be a sin not to combine them to enhance the effect! So did, for example, Canadians who drink Fireball in the cold – the original pepper-cinnamon liqueur. It is quite possible to make it in our latitudes. How – read this article!
Fireball liqueur is popular with American youth, it is tasted at particularly violent winter parties as tequila, shots, sometimes set on fire, and also in cocktails. Because of the burning taste, not everyone dares to pass the “Fireball” through their throat. Well, for us, accustomed to spicy alcohol, “Fireball” will be an interesting alternative to ordinary pepper with the original addition of cinnamon and spices. It will be possible to cook it without rare Canadian whiskey – on purchased or homemade bourbon.
We adapt the recipe for Fireball whiskey. A little about the ingredients.
When I first read about Fireball whiskey, I immediately remembered that a large Ukrainian diaspora lives in Canada. Perhaps it was the Ukrainians, who are missing their native “horiltsi with pepper”, who simply corrected the recipe for local raw materials – Canadian whiskey.
Or maybe, as some sources say, the liquor was invented by some obscure bartender in the 1880s, during one of the most severe winters in northern America, as an external and – especially – internal remedy for frostbite. One way or another, now the rights to release a drink under the brand name “Ball Lightning” (or “Fireball”, which better reflects the burning taste of the drink) belong to the Canadian company “Sazerac”.
To prepare “Fireball” at home, we need:
- Alcohol base.
Ideally – Canadian whiskey, not necessarily the best. Bourbon is often used, such as Slow Hand, and other bourbons that we meet will do. All authoritative US sources claim that the quality of whiskey is not particularly important – all the same, cinnamon and pepper will kill its taste. So you can safely take homemade corn whiskey aged on wood chips, or even grain distillate. On the forums, many moonshiners praise the usual pepper vodka, in which homemade bourbon is used instead of vodka.
The official fireball advertisement reads: Heavenly delicious, hot as hell!
- Pepper.
In Canada, they use chili – both fresh and dried. You can read about the choice and hotness of peppers in my article on peppers. You can take virtually any pepper, but you must try it, because its quantity and time of infusion directly depend on the spiciness.
- Spices.
Of course, the main spice in “fireball” is cinnamon, the label even says “Cinnamon Whiskey”, “Cinnamon Whiskey”. In addition, cardamom, anise, vanilla and even licorice are sometimes found in home recipes – whatever you like.
In general, the main thing is that the drink should be strongly spicy, with a bright cinnamon aroma and moderate mild sweetness. Everything else should only create a background, but not dominate!
Liquor “Fireball” – a classic recipe
It is this manufacturing method that appears in most English-language sources. The recipe uses medium quality bourbon.
Ingredients:
- Alcohol – 750 ml;
- Cinnamon sticks – 5-6 pieces;
- Dried chili peppers – 4-5 pieces;
- Simple sugar syrup – 20 ml;
Preparation:
The drink is prepared in 2 stages. First you need to take a jar, pour whiskey into it, add cinnamon and syrup (what is “simple sugar syrup” and how to make it – read here), mix everything and put in a warm dark place for 5 days, shaking occasionally.
A life hack for the lazy: in order not to pour the drink into another container after insisting, cinnamon, like other large spices, can be placed in a gauze bag, which is fixed directly with the lid of the jar. It will come out like a tea bag.
After 5 days have passed, dried peppers are added to the jar. After 2 days, you need to try the tincture – the sharpness in it should be a little more than enough, part of the burning taste will go away during storage. If not enough, let stand another day. Repeat the samples daily until the taste of the drink becomes scalding. As soon as this has happened, the tincture must be filtered, if necessary, sweetened with syrup, let it rest for a couple more days.
That’s it, your fireball liquor is ready!
Recipe two: Fireball with spices
Ingredients:
- 800 ml of whiskey;
- 50 grams of sugar;
- 50 ml of water;
- 10 g ground cinnamon;
- 5 g vanilla sugar (preferably less);
- 1 large fresh pepper;
- 10 peas of black pepper;
- 1/3 teaspoon of cumin;
- ½ Cardamom boxes.
Preparing a drink is even easier than the previous recipe. We cut the pepper into rings, crush the black pepper lightly with a rolling pin, add all the spices, pour it with alcohol and send it to infuse for at least 2 days. After that, the liquid should be tested for spiciness every day. When the capsaicins have worked their way out, we take out the jar, filter the liquid through gauze, then through a cotton filter. We make a simple sugar syrup and add to the tincture until a slight sweetness appears. We give the drink a rest for a couple more days – and that’s it, fireball whiskey is ready!