Homemade Hot Honey

Store in a clean jar at room temperature for up to three months. The antimicrobial properties of honey prevent spoilage. If chili flakes are left in, heat increases over time.

The heat level of the finished hot honey depends entirely on the chili flakes and steeping time — start with two tablespoons of red pepper flakes and taste after ten minutes of steeping at low heat; add more flakes or steep longer for more intensity. For a cleaner, fruitier heat, use Calabrian chili flakes or dried pequin chilis rather than standard crushed red pepper — the flavor of the chili matters as much as the heat level. Straining out the flakes produces a smooth, restaurant-quality hot honey; leaving them in intensifies heat over time and produces a more rustic product. Raw wildflower honey produces the most complex, floral result; buckwheat honey produces a deeper, earthier hot honey with a more robust flavor that stands up to strongly flavored spirits.

Hot honey — chili-infused honey used as a condiment and cocktail ingredient — traces its modern commercial origins to Mike Kurtz, who founded Mike's Hot Honey in Brooklyn in 2010 after bringing back the concept from a pizzeria he visited in Brazil, where chili-infused honey was a traditional pizza condiment. The combination of honey and chili is far older, appearing in traditional Mexican cuisine where honey and chile are paired in mole preparations and candied chili confections, as well as in North African and Middle Eastern culinary traditions. Mike's Hot Honey helped trigger a mainstream trend in chili-honey products that by the mid-2010s had expanded to major supermarket brands and widespread use as a cocktail ingredient. In the bar context, hot honey serves as a sweetener that simultaneously contributes sweetness, floral honey character, and capsaicin heat — a triple-function ingredient that makes it particularly efficient in spicy-sweet cocktail menus.

A smoked hot honey can be made by using dried chipotle chilis in place of red pepper flakes, producing a deeply smoky, spicy honey with a rich, earthy quality excellent in mezcal cocktails and whiskey sours. A Calabrian hot honey using oil-packed Calabrian chilis produces a distinctly different, fruity heat profile that is particularly good in Aperol Spritzes and Negroni riffs. For a ginger hot honey combining two warming elements, add one tablespoon of freshly grated ginger to the honey alongside the chili during infusion.

No common top-eight allergens. Not vegan (contains honey). Gluten-free. Contains capsaicin from chili peppers — those with capsaicin or nightshade sensitivities should avoid. Honey should not be given to children under one year of age.