Sour · Anytime · Spring

Spicy Fifty

Vanilla vodka with elderflower, lime and honey, two chilli slices shaken through it. Floral first, heat second.

Base: Vodka
Glass: Coupe glass
Method: Shake
Strength: 20% ABV

Ingredients

50 mlVodka Vanilla1 swap
Any neutral vodkahigh
Little change
15 mlElderflower Cordial
15 mlFresh Lime Juice1 swap
Fresh lemon juicemedium
Slightly less floral, more tart
10 mlMonin Honey Syrup1 swap
Honey syrup or agavemedium
Little change
2 slicesthin Slices Red Chili Pepper

How to make

Technique

Shake · 10–15s

Shaking chills the drink fast while adding dilution and a light texture.

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker, shake well with ice, double-strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Serve

Glass

Coupe glassAlso fine: Martini glass, Nick & Nora glass

Garnish

Garnish with a red chili pepper.Whole and unsplit, unless you want the heat in the drink itself.

Taste & nutrition

20%ABV

180kcal

1.77Drinks

StrengthMedium

Sweet to dryBalanced

Estimated from ingredient amounts and assumed ABVs — not a lab measurement.

Good to know

Use freshly squeezed juice — bottled tastes flat.

History

Year2004

PlaceLondon, England

Created bySalvatore Calabrese

Salvatore Calabrese created the Spicy Fifty around 2004-05 for his London bar, Fifty. Vanilla vodka, elderflower, lime and honey are given a kick by thin slices of red chilli. Inspired by chilli-forward restaurant dishes, it balances sweet, sour and heat. It became one of his signature modern drinks.

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