Hot Lemon ほっとレモン

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you a recent home-made version of something commercial.  This was recently inspired by how awesome we are to people in need of such things (it's totally a real thing that really happened for real).  So now we share this knowledge with you, on the internetsez in case you find yourself with a sniffle.

Hot Lemon ( ほっとレモン ) is a popular beverage sold throughout Japan in convenience stores and vending machines (yes they have vending machines that serve hot beverages in cans and such).  This elixir of vitamin C is popular during the cold months as it touts the ability to fend off the biological onslaught of wintery cold time sickness.  Well, we thought we could improve it and show people living in places that aren't Japan how to have plenty of this at the ready.   

Having leftover lemons from last episode (Sriracha Lemonade), we double up on the little yellow fruit, but we're sure this also works with limes or even oranges.   Make sure to use organic, since it's legal to use some nasty food dyes in fruit (in the US at least) and this is going to use lots of zest.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the first hot beverage of the winter:  Hot Lemon.




You will need:
4 large lemons (or maybe 6 little ones)
1 cup of sugar (doesn't matter what kind)
500ml of hot water or tea (this amount varies depending on how much juice the lemons will produce)
2 tsp of salt
Garlic (optional)
Ginger (optional)
Hard liquor of your choice (optional)

Equipment used:
Vegetable peeler.
Blender (not the hand-held type).
Citrus Juicer.
Knife and cutting board.
Mesh strainer (a Chinois works well)
Mason Jar. (800ml or 32 oz).





You know, we didn't notice until half way through that she's got some crap on her jacket.  We're not sure what that is, but one day we'll get some special effects studio to totally photoshop it out of there.












See list above.



Again, we warn you to use organic, since peels can have things like FD&C Red no. 2 in them.  Seriously, that stuff gives you cancer, and the government says it's A-OK to use it on the outside of food, but not the inside.   You can look that up.




At this point also add between one and two teaspoons of salt.   This helps your body hold on to water and boosts the flavor considerably.




Here we have some Laird's Applejack.  That's an Anime Boston shot glass from 2005 (we think).  Applejack is (at the most basic) a whiskey distilled from fermented apple cider.  There are not a great many producers out there and we are looking into getting something going to highlight how awesome it is to use in place of Scotch or Bourbon in many a cocktail.  We don't feel ready to recommend one label over another to people just yet, but we're working on it.




If garlic sounds too funky for you (and it totally is for many people) you can use fresh ginger instead.  Garlic does help in a few areas though, and freezing it before hand helps to soften it up, but be careful because garlic that's been frozen can straight up turn green if you're not careful.  We're serious.




We have filled it to almost 875ml.  Some of that is displacement from the solid components and we got it back up to 800ml by adding more water.




A mesh strainer is good to use here, since a coffee filter would be kind of overkill and probably take too long. 

What is in the jar here is a bit strong, so we say go with a 1 to 1 ratio of this lemon awesomeness and some other hot liquid like hot water, tea, or ...we guess you could use coffee, or mulled wine, or tomato soup but all of that sounds kinda bad.





Brought to you in honor of the 2013 New York Comic Con and one unfortunate exhibitor who had to muddle his way through hosting a panel with a nasty cold all by his lonesome.  This stuff does keep well in the fridge, but vitamin C is notorious for breaking down quickly, so it's best to have it sooner rather than later.

Next up:

Coffee Liquors

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Sriracha Lemonade (with Sriracha lemon cocktail).

So you'd expect the internet to be full of Sriracha Lemonade recipes and other things like it, since it's all popular and such.  But the vacuum of such a thing within the interwebs seems to stand like a monument to the laziness of hipsterism, which is passively waiting for someone to come up with something original so that they can instagram it to people they've never actually been in the same zip code with.  Seriously, there seems to be bupkis out there on the subject of making sriracha lemonade.

So to you, the public, we bring the step by step process of coming up with said Sriracha Lemonade.  Like many beverages we bring you here at Pinky Mixology, there is an optional booze component.  I'm sure you know which option we're going to be choosing.
Check out our BONUS MINI EPISODE:  Sriracha Lynchburg Lemonade. Up on our Tumblr.







Again, the vodka is optional, and it's not necessary to use a high priced one, since we're just using it to extract flavors from the basil leaves.



We recommend using any brand of sriracha that is a complete puree, and not chunky with seeds in it.  This should be obvious, but you don't want little chunks of stuff floating around in there.

And yes, the rooster is white not red.  Seriously look at the thing.  Take an empty bottle and fill it with diet coke or pickle relish and that rooster is still gonna be white. 



We're going to make a bunch of this but it's much easier to make about 800-900ml and then split it up into smaller portions rather than try to make tiny amounts individually at once.  As always, amounts of sugar and other things will always be subject to individual tastes.




Vodka really works best for this, but some people just don't want it in there, so feel free to be experimental.  Ya know like... with imitation coconut extract or whatever.




It really should go without saying that it's best to strain out the basil leaves and lemon seeds and what-have-you out of this.  But here we are saying it anyway.




If you're a big fan of sriracha, we recommend adding a bit less than you think you will need.  This is because we're trying to make something that has a sriracha component which plays off the other components in this, and doesn't take center stage leaving no room for anything else.  You can always add more later, but once it's in there it doesn't come out.



It's very important to note that the shaking is necessarry and should always be done before you add anything carbonated to this (obviously).  That's why a mason jar is a great vessel to use, since it's its own shaker (when you have a lid).




There you have it.  Sriracha Lemonade, which can be made with or without alcohol.  Additionally we have wondered what it would be like using limes and cilantro instead of lemons and basil, so if anyone does that let us know.  

Adding iced tea to make a spicy version of an Arlold Palmer is really nice also! 

But what about if you're sitting at the adults table...?  Well we can't be drinking out of mason jars with silly straws now can we?  So:




Using that lemon-basil sriracha as a base, you can get very creative and use just about any spirits or combination thereof, to make great variations on your favorite drinks, or try something totally new. Sky's the limit (Kahlua or Jagermeister would probably be gross though).




While it's true that alcohol can sometimes negate the potency of the Capsaicin in hot sauce/spicy things, you'll still feel the warmth and bite of that oh so familiar sriracha that even us non-hipster mundanes have come to enjoy. 












Check out our BONUS MINI EPISODE:  Sriracha Lynchburg Lemonade. Up on our Tumblr. 




Next Time: HOT LEMON


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Soda

As the summer comes to a close, and you would rather just drink things out of a bottle and not spend forever concocting something or whatever, we are grateful to have access to a myriad of fizzy beverages that are made with actual taste in mind and not by some giant faceless company who shoves high fructose corn syrup into everything. 

Now we know that every region has their own local soda that everyone likes, and if we leave yours out then... too bad, we can't go get everything.
























Pig Iron Cola

Fentiman's

If you like a really strong sharp cola taste, the Pig Iron is a really good example of that.  Unfortunately, Pinky Mixology HQ is a bit far from Seattle, so our local suppliers don't always have it on hand.  The Fentiman's has the unfortunate distinction of being liked by the New York Times and being rated #1 in their list of colas, but despite being liked by the newspaper equivalent of a retired food co-op manager, this stuff is a very nice change of pace and goes well with stuff like fish or salad.




















Moving on to Birch Beer











Brownie Caramel Cream


Manhattan Special Sarsaparilla


Boylan's; a soda company that's still close to our hearts, but the Birch Beer just seem to miss the mark for us.  Maybe it's because we used to spend so much time in Wayne County PA.




Now maybe you might be wondering, where is the Dublin Dr. Pepper?  Well, it's dead.  It was murdered by friggin Snapple, which is owned by Schweppes, which is owned by Cadbury.  So now you can never taste Dr. Pepper as it was originally invented and stayed that way for almost 100 years.  Snapple, Schweppes, and Cadbury have decided that you can't have that because they are all a bunch of total assholes.   So as sad as it makes us, we won't be buying anything from these fucktarded companies again... even the amazing cream eggs.  So sad.









Unless it is kept extremely cold and still before opening, Manhattan Special does have a habit of kerploding out of the bottle instantly upon opening.  There are 2 methods of dealing with this that don't involve getting soda all over you.


Small Bottle: Open it as fast as you can and shove it in your face before it has a chance to overflow (this takes some practice, but eventually you'll be able to pull off this move while walking down Brooklyn streets with the soda in one hand and a slice in the other).


Large Bottle:  You may have seen the large bottle of Manhattan Special featured in our Ice Cream Float Valentine's Day Specialaganzatacular.  Due to the nature of the cap, there is no way you are getting it off fast enough, so we usually just let a little pressure out at a time while keeping the bottle on ice in the sink in case of overflow.

Manhattan Special is always worth hunting down, but you may want to avoid their coffee variations if you have a heart condition or other caffeine sensitivity.   Their Orange and Vanilla flavors are naturally caffeine free. 









Manhattan Special


Moxie


Fentiman's weirdness.


















Cheerwine

Nesbitt's

NuGrape






Now, we're a little late on this one, and that's because we were trapped way in the wilds of upstate New York in such a forested area that there was no internetseses (we were lucky there was indoor plumbing).  So a week of living the Amish life basically has set us back a bit.  On the plus side, there was moonshine.








See you next time, when we bring you:

SRIRACHA LEMONADE (With bonus cocktail).

We really did want to make this a bonus episode for this month, but that week away really killed us.  Also we're short on booze money right now (FYI that means send us some... Money or Booze it really doesn't matter).  You you all will have to wait until Oct. 1 to see how to make the ultimate Sriracha Lemonade.  Also we made a martini version:

The Sriracha Martini awaits.
That's the bonus cocktail I was talking about
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