The only (and spiciest) Bloody Maria recipe you’ll need, trust me on that.

I recently read an article about a hot sauce made with alcohol. According to the article, the team at Swamp Dragon Hot Sauce used different liquors in place of vinegar.

“Swamp Dragon is the only liquor based hot sauce in the world,” creator Matt Beason said. On his inspiration, Beason explained, “vodka doesn’t go bad when you leave it out, and vodka is an unflavored spirit; if I just wanted the pepper flavor, maybe I can use vodka instead of vinegar.”

Naturally, I had to give it a try myself.

After much deliberation over which flavors to get for myself — there’s bourbon, vodka, tequila, rum, and even ouzo for the brave — I finally decided on a small Vodka Dragon and Tequila Dragon.

Apparently I’ve been blessed by the alcoholic hot sauce gods (aka the Swamp Dragon team), because when my package arrived, it was full of way more than what I actually ordered. Swamp Dragon gifted me with two full size bottles of the vodka and tequila, as well as a small bottle of tequila and bourbon and their Dragon Dust Spicy Seasoning.

In the spirit of paying it forward, I consulted with my friend Alexis of ATB Nutrition to collaborate on a recipe using the hot sauce. Genius that she is, she suggested trying a Bloody.

While you can’t get drunk from the hot sauce itself (as Beason described, “the peppers would make you sick if you tried”), you can certainly get drunk when you add it to a spicy Bloody Maria.

Spicy Bloody Maria Recipe

Ingredients

2 lemon wedges
1 celery stick
2oz tequila (jalapeño tequila if you’re feeling real spicy)
4 oz V8 tomato juice
Splash of Tequila Dragon
Splash of Worcestershire sauce
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

We added ice to the glass and began layering the drink’s ingredients, starting with the tequila and tomato juice. Once everything’s in, give it a little stir and add your garnish. To up the spice factor a little more, add a couple of jalapeño slices to your garnish.

And most importantly, enjoy. Cheers!