alphacygni turned both me and Sonya on to a little thing called Fire Cider, which is one of the most powr'ful liquids I have tasted in recent memory. It's an apple cider vinegar and honey concoction which is touted as a good old-fashioned New England health tonic, which is just fine for me because I'm in New England and I sure like feeling healthy. This is not, however, the reason I've become quite fond of the stuff.The reason I am happily knocking back drinks made with Fire Cider is because of all the other stuff they put in it, primarly ginger, garlic, horseradish, and habanero. These, too, are good old-fashioned health tonicky things, and when you put them all together in an already-spicy cider vinegar, you get something magical. If you try it on its own, taking the tiniest of sips, you're going to notice that while the spice and heat are intense, it's not a burn. Your palate is not completely stomped on; the stuff tastes quite nice if you're into vinegar.
The heat fades from your mouth quickly because it takes a detour straight to your brain and plays with your endorphins like six-year-olds in a ball pit. It's pretty cool. You take a sip. You blink. Your sinuses clear. You instantly wake the hell up and your brain feels shiny for a bit. Have a bit too much at once and you're reminded of those Looney Tunes where Porky and Daffy go into a saloon and the bad guy makes 'em drink mad hooch which compels 'em to pull their cowboy hats over their heads like bonnets and recite "Mary Had A Little Lamb". It makes you want to go ride all the roller coasters. This. This is why I like it. As I'm currently enjoying a case of cold weather blech, I'm very much liking it.
The stuff goes well in seltzer, preferably plain or with a little citrus to it. It's stronger than soda syrup, so you can't add in heaps like you usually do. The Granny Smith seltzer that Polar sells just for us worked nicely. So did the grapefruit. You can probably also put it in tea, but I don't recommend the licorice mint. We don't talk about that.
The real draw, of course, is discovering which delicious forms of booze go well with it. Fire Cider itself is non-alcoholic but will happily mix with liquor.
alphacygni's suggestion was rum, lime, and some simple syrup. I can safely attest that dark rum works well with the stuff, especially if you use honey for your sweetener. You can also mix up a decent bourbon drink with it, too; my current beverage today is a modified hot toddy with bourbon, honey, this Fire Cider stuff, and plenty of hot water. The nice thing about it is that when you're ill, you can have one any time you like. It's medicinal.I'm also guessing hot buttered rum would play well with the stuff too, but perhaps I should save serious exploration for flu season.
Sonya and I had a few mugs of the stuff the other night and discussed possible slogans for the liquid, which can be cruel indeed without mental preparation. (It can smell fear. I'm pretty sure of it.) Anyway, the best of my lot was "You'll Swear By It After You Swear At It". Clearly it helps inspiration a hundredfold.
