Flavored spirits are, often, the butt of bartending jokes. Plagued by the bevy of heavily artificial options or too-niche flavors, most of the category often comes off as gimmicky. At their best, though, these bottles are shortcuts to bold and fresh flavors without the need for a time-intensive DIY infusion. But not all flavored spirits are created equal. Here, our guide to three worth stocking in your home bar, plus the easy cocktails to use them in.
Beyond infusing flavor, fat-washing a spirit can be used to add roundness in texture to drinks. In particular, coconut oil is a popular fat-washing agent to add a tropical dimension. Bimini Coconut Gin, which is itself made with virgin coconut oil, provides an even easier shortcut. Swap it into tropical gin classics like the Saturn, or double down and pair it with coconut syrup, as in the Coppertone. Even outside of fruit-forward constructions, the spirit shines: Consider the Martini-like Yolanda, which stirs the gin alongside blanc vermouth and absinthe.
Yolanda
A vermouth-forward sleeper hit.
From Piña Coladas to Painkillers, the pairing of rum and pineapple is a ubiquitous one for good reason. Planteray Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum brings the flavors together in the same bottling, saving you a trip to the grocery store and bringing fresh pineapple flavor within arm’s reach all year round. A collaboration between distiller Alexandre Gabriel and historian David Wondrich, this bottling is based on an 1824 recipe that is made with both the flesh and rind of the fruit for rich dimension. Demi Natoli calls for it in the Elusive Dreams, her version of a Hotel Nacional, alongside unaged rum, to bolster the tropical fruit flavor, while Devin Kennedy adds it to the Mojito template in his Spice Adams; at New York’s Dante, bartenders shake it into their take on the Jungle Bird.
Elusive Dreams
This riff on the Hotel Nacional turns tiki with banana liqueur.
Dante’s Jungle Bird
A mashup of Dante’s beloved Garibaldi and the bitter tiki classic, the Jungle Bird.
In today’s era of savory and spicy everything, this vodka—which is flavored with chiles like jalapeño and habanero as well as sweet red bell pepper, cilantro and lime—fits neatly into just about any cocktail. Its actual heat level is low; it mostly offers vegetal and green notes, so it’s an excellent complement to crushable cocktails, adding a balance and backbone to everything from a requisite summer watermelon drink to a playful white wine–based answer to frosé. In Shannon Tebay’s Electric Feel, meanwhile, it spices up the Ti’ Punch format, sandwiched between bright yuzu and tropical coconut.
Bling Melon
Juicy watermelon cut with a spicy vodka and liqueur.
Francerre
Sancerre’s oft-cited green note is magnified with the addition of green chile vodka.
