At Long Last, Alcoholic Hot Sauce

Swamp Dragon is a hot sauce brand based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Instead of vinegar, they use booze.

What, you want more? Fine, here's more.

As creator Matt Beeson told Fox 44, "Swamp Dragon is the only liquor based hot sauce in the world." And no, "you can't get drunk from it because the peppers would make you sick if you tried."

The recipe occurred to Beeson when he saw vodka on his countertop and thought that "vodka doesn't go bad when you leave it out, and vodka is an unflavored spirit; if I just wanted the pepper flavor, maybe I can use vodka instead of vinegar."

He could. Swamp Dragon varieties also include bourbon, rum, vodka, and tequila; the brand's website also mentions an ouzo flavor, which sounds like this writer's perfect hell. The others, though, are intriguing, each with its own "simple mixture of peppers and liquors."

Because the vinegar component is absent here, Swamp Dragon suggests its products are the ideal hot sauce to add to sweets. Beeson describes the effect as "antiseptic" rather than acidic, which sounds not totally appetizing, but again, intriguing. The sauces are available online and locally, but Beeson wants to keep growing.

"I do want to be an international brand, and Dragon mythology is global," Beeson told Fox 44.