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The name started to stick once I\u2019d seen it a third or fourth time. There was a <\/span>maximalist Bloody Mary<\/span><\/a> in Oaxaca. A <\/span>spicy Gold Rush<\/span><\/a> in Los Angeles. A <\/span>souped-up M&M<\/span><\/a> in Brooklyn. Despite their dramatically different builds, the same chile liqueur pops up in each of these drinks, from coast to coast, across the continent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Alma Tepec, whose name translates from Spanish and Nahuatl to \u201csoul mountain,\u201d is fairly new\u2014it launched in 2021\u2014but clearly, it has already caught bartenders\u2019 attention. \u201cI find it less sweet than other chile liqueurs, allowing us to best manage the overall balance of a drink,\u201d says John Douglass, co-owner of Pretty Decent, a mezcal-focused bar in Louisville, Kentucky. He uses the ingredient in <\/span>the bar\u2019s Carajillo<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI like the slight hint of smoke and earthiness that it adds to the cocktail,\u201d he says. Compared to brighter, greener spicy liqueurs, the flavor profile of this one is panseasonal, pairing with everything from <\/span>cream soda<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>coconut<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>espresso<\/span><\/a> to <\/span>eggnog<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Alma Tepec is made from smoke-dried pasilla mixe chiles, peppers that are native to Oaxaca and often used in Mexican sauces. That culinary connection makes it a go-to for the <\/span>food-inspired drinks<\/span><\/a> that have recently taken over cocktail menus. Take, for example, <\/span>the Margarita inspired by tamales<\/span><\/a> at Los Angeles\u2019 Here\u2019s Looking at You.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
But Alma Tepec shines in more minimalist applications, too. Bar Tobal\u00e1 in Melbourne spotlights the liqueur in its <\/span>Part Time Friend<\/span><\/a>, an equal-parts shaken drink where it simply joins amaro, ginger and lime. Miss B\u2019s Coconut Club, in San Diego, <\/span>throws it into a Batanga<\/span><\/a>. And Danny Rubenstein, who uses the liqueur in the aforementioned tamal Margarita, also recommends keeping the spirit in the freezer and enjoying it neat as a spicy shot\u2014\u201cLet\u2019s be real, Alma Tepec is <\/span>far<\/span><\/i> better than Fireball,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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