Hot & Dirty Martini

I used to make these about a decade ago with habanero-stuffed olives. It was really hot! One bite of the olive was enough to keep your mouth burning for minutes. It was almost unpleasant...almost. This cocktail uses more pepper in the vodka, which means that it is more balanced. Absolut Peppar is always a good choice.

For myself, I used red chili infused vodka I made by soaking a single pepper in two cups of vodka for about three days. This infusion was so hot that I made the cocktail with 2 1/2 ounces of 100-proof vodka and 1/2 ounce of chili pepper infused vodka. Though the recipe doesn't call for it, I rimmed half the glass with black pepper and ground red chili pepper. (Combine pepper, kosher salt, and chili pepper in a dish) and a big red chili pepper for a garnish. It was beautiful.

The other addition I made was Tipsy Olives and their vermouth brine. Rather than use 1/2 oz. of vermouth and 1/2 oz. olive brine, I just used 1 ounce of Tipsy Olive vermouth brine. It was super easy and very good.

• 3 oz. pepper vodka (2 1/2 oz. vodka and 1/2 oz. chili infused vodka)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. olive brine
• hot pepper stuffed olives
• optional pepper rim

Combine vodka, vermouth and brine in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass (with optional pepper rim). Garnish with olives.