Make Your Cocktails Extra Delicious By Setting Them On Fire

The next hot thing in artisanal imbibing? Igniting your cocktail with a 1650℉ stick.

The practice isn’t new, but rather a pre-Civil War tradition in which bartenders would heat cocktails with a hot rod or rock pulled from a fire. But in the Eater video above, Dave Arnold of the Museum of Food and Drink exhibits the modern version with an internally heated steel poker.

It’s not just about the temperature, it’s a flavor thing too. As Arnold explains: “Imagine those ingredients almost having a roasted flavor, or like pie. Like you’ve baked it in an oven, and it creates a lot of roasted, caramel-y, burnt flavors, fills the whole air with this awesome aroma, and just creates a drink that hasn’t really been common since the Civil War.”

Spring might be on its way, but a glass of flaming booze might be enough to make us wish it wasn’t.

Images via Eater // YouTube.