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Why we love to drink spicy cocktails

- Betsy Andrews

IT'S A FITTING MONIKER for a cocktail with a spicy kick, but the Kicker Rock (recipe below) is actually named for a dramatic volcanic formation located in the Galápagos Islands. I got wise to the drink and its namesake on a cruise with Ecoventura, whose bespoke cocktail list features this rhum agricole-based libation.

Viewed from the north, Kicker Rock resembles a boot. From the south, however, it looks like its other moniker, Sleeping Lion. That could be the drink's secret name, for its chipotle-and-Tajín heat sneaks slyly up through layers of bitter Campari and sweet pineapple, sour lemon and woodsy rosemary.

The stealth approach and euphoric finish describe two of the three superpowers that spicy cocktails have. Most get their heat from capsaicin (the fiery compound in chiles), which triggers your mouth not only to taste, but also to feel sensations, including pain. Then your body fights back with bliss-inducing endorphins and dopamine. No wonder Tabasco-spiked Bloody Marys are so popular! Add a shot of vodka to the mix, and you've concocted one heck of a party.

But there's a third effect. “Compounds such as capsaicin found in chile peppers may enhance other tastes,” says Charles Spence, author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating. So spiciness can also theoretically make a drink taste better.

That's where mixologists come in. Andres Damerval, owner of the bar Nicanor in Ecuador and Ecoventura's onboard mixologist, uses the heat of chipotle hot sauce to enhance the bitterness and fruitiness of the drink. “Spice improves all of it. It pops in the mouth,” he says.