The heat is on with a noodle-spice cocktail

I recently found a single Shin Ramyun flavour packet hiding between some bowls in my kitchen. It felt like finding a spare tenner or an unexpected condom, in that I was grateful for the useful discovery, but some uncomfortable truths had to be acknowledged. How long had it been there? Does the fact I have it lying around my house unused indicate I’m not getting the most out of life? Enough. Let’s carpe those diems. I would figure out how to put noodle spice mixes into a cocktail.

I decided to attempt one long and one short drink, both united in their affinity with spice. The Bloody Mary and the spicy margarita (also known as the picante among the membership-club classes). My goal wasn’t to see how hot I could make drinks as some sort of challenge, but rather as a new ingredient to have in your back pocket as an at-home mixologist.

I decided to start with the Bloody Mary, given that at time of testing, I had a mild-to-middling headache, which I presume was from the heavily salted fries served alongside four glasses of wine the previous night. I was guided by a particularly effective rendition I once drank at Decatur, Tom Zahir Browne’s US Southern food project. They added seafood boil spices to a classic Bloody Mary, which brought an allspice/clove basenote to the drink. He even had a shrimp and pickled okra on a skewer for a garnish. To recreate the magic in my own home, I used the flavour packet from Mama Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum noodles. Revive me, Shrimpy Mary!

In order to judge the experiment, all other elements had to be pretty down the line: tomato juice, good vodka, lemon juice, ample Worcestershire sauce all went into a glass. Then, about two-thirds of the spice packet (with care to filter out the large veggies pieces before adding to get a nice, smooth drink). I then sprinkled some of the powder on two prawns, which I skewered to make a garnish.

The colour was lighter and the liquid thicker than in its trad incarnation. There was warmth, sweetness and creaminess from the tom yum mix, and the squeeze of lemon really hit a piquant note that pulled me from my fugue state, in the way a good Bloody Mary is supposed to.

And so to the margarita, where the fire of chillies sits so well against the lip-smacking acidity of lime. The found flavour packet from my beloved Shin Ramyun would bring the heat. I added half a packet to 50ml of good agave spirit (I used Pelo del Perro Mezcal to bring a light smokiness), 20ml of sugar syrup, the juice of a lime and loads of spanked coriander.

The rest of the spice packet was shaken on to a dish, and a tumbler’s lip was swiped with lime, then pressed into the chilli mix to create a spicy rim. The ingredients were shaken together in a mixing glass with ice and then strained. I couldn’t quite believe how well it worked. It’s a reddish clay colour: faintly beefy, wonderfully savoury, with brightness from the lime and a gentle tingling heat balanced by the cool temperature.

The affinity between lime and savoury spice made me think of the michelada, a Mexican beer cocktail. Now there’s an idea… Perhaps I’ll be hoarding rogue spice packets for when sunnier days return.