Kama Sutra Drinks

The principal drinks are made with honey [mead], molasses [rum], or alcohol distilled from maireya.

maireya liquor is mixed with long pepper [pippali], black pepper [maricha], and other ingredients, such as triphala [the three myrobalans].

- from the Jayamangala commentary on the Kama Sutra, Danielou, p. 66-67

I decided I wanted my “other ingredients” to be ginger, as I’ve also been doing some research on ayurveda, and the two peppers + ginger is a mixture recommended for kapha doshas (I’m probably vata-kapha or kapha-vata). Since maireya liquor distilled from maireya (which is a wine of some sort based on the Manasollasa) isn’t commercially available, I opted to go with something that would more closely resemble one of the other liquors mentioned.

Batch 1 (started 7/3?/08)

11 oz white rum

2 tsp whole black pepper (slightly cracked)

1 pod long pepper (slightly cracked)

1/2 tsp minced ginger

Combine and let steep for a week.

Verdict: Blow-your-face-off peppery. Extremely potent but still enjoyable to the several people who were brave enough to taste it.

This liquor was nicknamed "Holy Sh*tfire", due to the first words to come out of my mouth upon trying it. It was determined that it was incredibly delicious when mixed with lime or lemonade.

Batch 2 (started 7/14/08)

22 oz white rum

3 tsp whole black pepper (slightly cracked)

1 pod long pepper (slightly cracked)

1 tsp minced ginger