new era · shaken
Spicy Fifty recipe
Vanilla vodka, elderflower and honey with a chilli kick.
A Spicy Fifty is 50 ml (47 g) Vanilla Vodka, 15 ml (14.9 g) Elderflower Liqueur, 15 ml (15.5 g) Fresh Lemon Juice, 10 ml (12 g) Honey Syrup and 1 ml (1 g) Red Chilli, shaken and served in a martini glass. It pours to about 91 ml before ice, at roughly 25.8% ABV. Weighing the ingredients instead of measuring them is what keeps the balance identical from one round to the next.
- Glassmartini glass
- Methodshaken
- Pour volume91 ml
- Strength (est.)25.8% ABV
- Time5 min
Spicy Fifty ingredients — in millilitres and grams
Grams are what the PourPilot coaster actually targets. They are not the same as the millilitres: a spirit is lighter than water, a syrup is heavier, so 30 ml of one is never 30 g. The right-hand column is the density we use, in grams per millilitre.
| Ingredient | Volume | Weight | g/ml | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanilla Vodka | 50 ml | 47 g | 0.94 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Elderflower Liqueur | 15 ml | 14.9 g | 0.99 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Fresh Lemon Juice | 15 ml | 15.5 g | 1.03 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Honey Syrup | 10 ml | 12 g | 1.20 | Weighed by the coaster |
| Red Chilli | 1 ml | — | 0.98 | 2 slices of red chilli |
How to make a Spicy Fifty
- Set your martini glass on the scale (or on the PourPilot coaster) and zero it. Every measurement below is given in millilitres and in grams, so you can use either.
- Add Vanilla Vodka, Elderflower Liqueur, Fresh Lemon Juice, Honey Syrup and Red Chilli to a shaker, weighing each ingredient rather than eyeballing a jigger.
- Fill with ice and shake hard for 12–15 seconds.
- Double-strain into a chilled martini glass.
- Garnish: 2 slices of red chilli.
Spicy Fifty: the questions people actually ask
How strong is a Spicy Fifty?
Roughly 25.8% ABV as poured, before the ice dilutes it — typically another 15–25% water by the time you finish stirring or shaking. Spirit-forward. Sip it, do not sink it.
What glass should a Spicy Fifty be served in?
A martini glass. Chill it first — a room-temperature stemmed glass will undo half the work you just did in the mixing tin.
Can I make a Spicy Fifty without a jigger?
Yes — that is what the gram column is for. Put the glass or tin on a kitchen scale, zero it, and pour to the weight. It is more accurate than a jigger because nothing is left clinging to the inside of the measure. The PourPilot coaster does the same thing without you having to watch a display: it lights up as you approach the target and tells you when to stop.
Why are some ingredients not weighed?
Dashes of bitters and rinses are too small to weigh reliably — a dash is roughly 0.8 ml, well inside the noise of any bar scale. Count them instead. Everything else in this Spicy Fifty is weighed.
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