Recipe

• 3 parts chilli liqueur (I used Ancho Reyes)

• 1–1½ parts lime juice

• 1 part water

Shake the ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Add a small pinch of dried chilli flakes.

Excellent!

I've tried this a couple of times, with mixed success. The liqueur is fiery and quite harsh, and adding sugar syrup seems to make it sickly without taking the edge off. In fact the liqueur has enough sweetness already, and the way to take the edge off is to be more generous with the lime juice than my usual sour recipe (3:1:1) and to add a little water instead of syrup.

The result is still fiery, but drinkable, refreshing, and attractive to look at. It was superb as an appetiser before the spicy chickpea tacos that are becoming one of our weekly meals.

Thanks to Parker and Liz, our good friends who got us this liqueur a few years ago. I've got a lot out of it, and I'd never have bought it for myself.