In the spirit of the previous post about how beneficial spicy foods are, I want to share this special cocktail. This was my favorite summer cocktail and now it’s just my favorite for any season. It’s basically a spicy grapefruit margarita. My Friend Sarah, from the Alice radio show 97.3, coined it the “Hot Ass Daniellita” and it stuck.

Ingredients

2 habanero chiles, halved

Thin string like fishing line or dental floss (no flavor)

Fresh Pink grapefruit juice

Tommy’s Margarita Mix or Fresh lime and blue agave nectar

Himalayan Pink Salt or Kosher salt (optional)

Fresh lime

 Preparation

Tie chili halves with string. Lower them into the bottle with the string hanging over the top. Let steep 3 hours, or longer if you like it spicy. Pull out the stringed chillies and discard.

If you want salt, pour enough onto a small plate to cover about 1/4″ of the glass rim. Spin a wedge of lime around the rim and dip into the salt to lightly coat.

Fill with ice and top with 1/3 tequila, 1/3 grapefruit juice and 1/3 Tommy’s.