The Roman Holiday might not sound like a winter cocktail, but look close in the ingredients list and you’ll see the chili liqueur. And when this spicy spirit is combined with Cognac, rum and orange juice it actually feels like winter.

This recipe is from bar Canon in Seattle and in their book there’s an interesting text about how spicy spirits can be used to balance sweetness, in the same way as bitters and sours does. Ancho Reyes chili liqueur is relatively sweet on its own, but it’s definitely spicy (like really hot) and we agree it works as a good counterpart in this drink to the orange juice and sweet apricot liqueur.

Now to the part we’re extra interested to hear your opinion about. Is this a tiki cocktail or not? We struggle to label it…

Roman Holiday

Ingredients:

1 oz orange juice
0,75 oz rum
0,75 oz Cognac
0,5 oz apricot liqueur
0,5 oz lemon juice
0,25 oz Ancho Reys chili liqueur
7 dashes Angostura bitters

Mixing:

Shake everything but the bitters with fresh ice, strain into a collins glass completely filled with ice. Top with the bitters.

Glassware:

Collins