Stylize Spirits with the Hottest Accessory Around: Flavored Sugars

Purists, we apologize in advance. If you think rocky road ice cream is an affront to vanilla or fusion-anything is cuisine genocide, you’ll likely not dig this story either. We’ve crafted four sugar infusions to primp and sweeten the rims of simple classic cocktails — yeah, we know, if ain’t broke don’t fix it. Still, we had to try. Our favorite combinations are below.

Rimming the outside of the glass with sugar keeps the integrity of the cocktail intact.

1. Kaffir Lime Sugar

1. Dry out a fresh batch of kaffir lime leaves (maybe six or seven) by letting them sit for two days on your countertop. You can also toast, roast or nuke them, but we wanted to preserve the flavor.
2. Give dried leaves a spin in a coffee grinder — remove stems first because they’re tough to break down.
3. Add brown cane sugar to grinder a little bit at a time and blend with kaffir leaves.
4. Pair with: Vodka Gimlet

2. Kaffir-Coconut Sugar

1. Prep the kaffir leaves using the method above.
2. Add dried shredded coconut (about an equal part to the ground kaffir) and blend.
3. Add brown cane sugar to grinder a little bit at a time (starting with an equal part) and blend with mixture to taste.
4. Pair with: Not-So-Classic Kaffir Daiquiri
   We switched up the simple syrup in our classic daiquiri with a homemade kaffir syrup (boil one cup water, remove from heat and pour over one cup sugar and several kaffir leaves; steep for a few hours), then rimmed the glass with this sugar mixture. We also subbed in Sagatiba Cachaça for rum.

3. Blueberry Brown Sugar

1. Grind a cup of freeze-dried blueberries (they’ll turn into a powder or dust). We used Trader Joe’s because they’re the driest.
2. Add brown sugar to grinder a little bit at a time and blend.
3. Note: Dried goji berries are a chic and unexpected switch up to blueberries. And they’re pink, so what’s not to love?
4. Pair with: Vodka Martini, dry (try it with Han, limit one, you’ll thank us the next morning)

4. Mint Sugar

We tried two methods:

1. — The first, dry fresh mint. Wash and dry mint (should be completely dry). Toast in the oven on low heat (between 175 and 200 degrees) for about three hours. Leaves will be toasted and crumbly. Blend in a grinder. Add cane sugar to taste.
2. — The second, blend leaves from mint tea (a blend of peppermint, spearmint and hibiscus). Use one package tea leaves blended in a grinder with cane sugar to taste.
3. Our reco: Using dried tea leaves has a high-voltage flavor we love and it streamlines the process.
4. Pair with: Mojito

Wanna try all four infusions at once? A tiered tray makes the perfect accessory.

Raw alert! Next up … we’re rimming whiskey-based drinks like the old-school Manhattan and Bronx. It’s cocktail blasphemy at its finest.