I had a dream once about a bell pepper cocktail served in a hollowed out bell pepper. Last night, I made half the dream come true. (Serving it out of a bell pepper seemed messy and inconvenient.)

My friend at Savvy Housekeeping grew some beautiful bell peppers and was game for helping me figure out how to best use the sweet and spicy flavor in a cocktail. What we came up with was tasty and unlike any cocktail I’ve had before. It was light, refreshing, and slightly spicy. The grapefruit and the bell pepper complimented each other, since both combine sweetness with a little hint of bitter.

Fresh-from-the-garden produce is always tasty, but I’m sure the peppers of your choice from a farmer’s market or grocery store will also give delicious results. We used green bell pepper in the cocktail and red to garnish, but any bell pepper will do. In general, green has the most spice followed by red, orange, and then yellow.  Color choice will affect the color of the drink more than the flavor in most cases.

Ultimate Bell Pepper Cocktail

2 bell pepper rings
1 tbs. mint
1 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
1/4 oz. lemon juice (or orange juice if you want to accent sweet more)
1 1/2 oz. vodka
3/4 oz. Galliano liqueur (feel free to sub another herbal liqueur like Chartreuse)

In a cocktail shaker, muddle the mint and bell pepper with the juices. Add ice, vodka and liqueur. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with bell pepper ring.

past drinks