For an added kick to your favorite tequila, try steeping peppers in the bottle for 2 weeks.

"The German word Genussmittel, literally "articles of pleasure," denotes a group of substances for human consumption which are eaten, drunk, or inhaled to create pleasures of the senses, as opposed to those foods and beverages consumed as nutritional necessities. They include all spices and condiments as well as stimulants, intoxicants, and narcotics such as tobacco, coffee, tea, alcohol, and opium. The word Genussmittel therefore also implies that these substances are luxuries for sybaritic enjoyment, means for creating epicurean delights and, by extension, a state of sensual bliss." -- Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Tastes of Paradise: A Social History of Spices, Stimulants, and Intoxicants.

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It's funny what children do to get high.

With the exception of spinning myself around as fast as I could until I became so ridiculously dizzy I collapsed to the floor to enjoy a hard-earned head rush, my first real high was from spicy food. Ingesting capsaicin, the group chemical compounds that makes chilé peppers taste like fire, triggers a substantial release of endorphins, neurochemicals which attach to the same receptors as morphine. By the time I was ten, I would regularly eat as many chilés as I could possibly stand and then sit back and enjoy the loopy ride. All the best pleasures typically involve some degree of pain. The chilé high is no exception.

Six years later, I started drinking. Then I mixed the two. Washing down some super spicy Indian street food with a couple of cold beers, I experienced the sublimely warm, tingly buzz generated by the combination. It was a fantastic high; I felt tipsy, energetic, and euphoric.

But when you want to get that synergistic inebriation in a single mixed drink, there's a lot more than the predictable Bloody Mary.

Genussmittel: Alcohol + Capsaisin

C₂H₅OH + C₁₈H₂₇NO₃ = Euphoria

By Shreyas Shah
Photography by Jani Anderson

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Arunas Bruzas, chief mixologist at the hot new Chicago Mexican restaurant Zapatistas, has been developing chilé-infused mixed drinks for years. And believe me, they pack a punch. The first time I threw back La Bala, chilé-infused tequila, I thought my nose, throat, and esophagus were about to explode (La Bala means "the bullet," because you can feel it pass right through your body). After a minute the pain subsided, and I can honestly say that no other shot of liquor ever made me feel that good.

"When using chilés as an ingredient in cocktails, you're not just talking about flavor and taste, you're talking about effect. It's not a typical drunk. It's getting buzzed with a euphoric twist," Arunas explains.

He passed on some of his recipes to me. So if you've got the cajones, try one of these:

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