Southern Comfort and Tabasco Hot Sauce, two revered New Orleans traditions, are getting together.
Looks like that traditional whiskey-based cocktail of N'awlins history is sweet on Tabasco, the other New Orleans tradition, and it’s getting hot and steamy down in the French Quarter.
At first glance it may seem an unusual relationship, what with Southern Comfort’s deep whiskey voice and peachy, fruity style---it’s smooth, but it’s sweet---matching up with the hot and fiery cayenne of the legndary
Tabasco Hot Sauce. But we all know that opposites sometimes attract, and combustible things can happen from unlikely matches. And that’s the way it is here.
They’ve got the blend right. Word is there was a lot of sampling going on behind the scenes, and a lot of opinions offered on the right combination of these two, but that when the right one came along, everyone recognized it immediately.
As usual, the people will now speak and register their votes. Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper, proudly bearing the imprimatur of Tabasco’s famous seal, is now available in the U.S.
Our take?
They did a damned good job putting these two together. Southern Comfort can be a tad on the sweet side, and usually benefits from a little balancing out with other ingredients. No secret there: the best way to use Southern Comfort is in mixed drinks, cocktails, and punches. That’s why the popular SoCo & Lime version was created, and has been a big success story for the brand: the tangy, sour lime flavor perfectly balanced that sweetness to make for a delicious and refreshing drink.
But there are other kinds of balance, and the combination of sweet and fiery together works too. If you think Tabasco is a bit too uncomfortably hot for you, try the SoCo Fiery Pepper, where the liqueur tones down the hotter aspects of cayenne and vinegar and mellows them out to a warm glow; and the Tabasco livens up the SoCo while smoothing out the sweetness and giving it a bit of a welcome bite.
How would you use it? Chilled as a shot is just fine. Or simple and on the rocks, with a squeeze of lime or lemon. Or a unique version of a Pickleback, with a splash of dill pickle juice. Or make something up like, like, like….oh, like adding a toothpick with a black olive and a piece of salami and calling it a SoCo Muffalata (we just made that up).
Seriously, though, if you go to their website, or their Facebook page, or Twitter, you’ll find tons of interesting suggestions for SoCo Fiery Pepper
by Hoke Harden
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