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Even in Mexico—where chiles are worked into every corner of the diet, from the sauce packets served with delivery pizza to the dressing on top of street corn—I was still caught off guard by vodka with a kick. I first encountered Smirnoff’s Spicy Tamarind at a wedding in an old convent in Mexico City. The table of 20-somethings next to me had gotten hold of a full bottle and were passing it around, slugging it straight. My turn came at the hand of the bride, who was standing on a chair on the dance floor, pouring the drink into her queued-up guests’ open mouths.
The spirit has a fleeting heat that’s gone by the time the shot has slipped down your throat. Its flavor—tangy, sweet-tart, and fruity—is reminiscent of popular chile-dusted Mexican tamarind candies. With no chaser required, it’s made for partying; some bottles are even blacklight reactive.
Much the way that Fireball fueled the binges of my early Stateside drinking days, Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind has quickly become a go-to for the youngest generation of drinkers here in Mexico. At Cancún’s HRoof nightclub, the drink hit like a “boom,” says Daniela Audi of Grupo Anderson’s, which owns clubs like HRoof as well as restaurants. “In our fine dining restaurants, it’s sold to tables of young people who all take it as a shot.”
Launched in 2017 amid a wave of more easy-to-drink flavored liquors and boosted by a 2021 marketing campaign with Colombian singer and megastar Karol G, the flavor has created a trend in the liquor industry. “Today we are selling eight new tamarindo flavored spirits from other brands,” says Emily Cassignac of La Europea, one of Mexico’s biggest alcohol and gourmet retailers. Smirnoff Spicy Tamarind is also now available in the US.
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On TikTok, videos featuring the vodka in cocktail recipes rack up hundreds of thousands of likes. (@ssserg_'s review of it mixed with watermelon-flavored soda, lime, and Tajín: "BROOO THIS IS GOOOD.") At home, I sip it cut with seltzer. But I leave it at the front of my bar when I’m entertaining, next to the mezcals, as a reminder that I still know how to have fun. Just be warned: Drinking like the cool kids doesn’t mean you can handle the hangovers like them too.