BBQ Water Is The Unexpected Ingredient Your Savory Cocktails Need

Savory cocktails aren't just drinks. They're an event, practically a meal, or at least an appetizer. As such, savory ingredients like tomatoes, pickles, and latkes have joined the ingredients' list of modern libations. In light of that, why not add a little barbecue sauce, too? In fairness, adding big squirts of some store-bought or even homemade barbecue sauce to your 'rita may make it downright pasty. However, adding barbecue water makes it and other cocktails divine with a capital "D." The water is the thing that makes this so great in a cocktail.

Fortunately, making barbecue water is probably a lot easier than making many of your favorite cocktails. It certainly requires fewer ingredients than many alcoholic drinks will. You basically mix equal parts water with your favorite barbecue sauce flavor, and stir. Viola! You have a bottle of barbecue water, which flavors the beverages you dress it with without messing with the texture or overpowering the drink.

Because modern cocktail recipes have become more daring, there is space for experimentation. Unlikely ingredients such as coffee and Parmesan cheese have found their way into bar glasses and practically invite savory ingredients like barbecue water into the conversation. Plus, because it's easy to make, it's the kind of ingredient that you can pour into your favorite savory cocktail and test the taste of. If you don't like it, you've wasted maybe one drink. If you love it, you've opened the door wide for new flavor adventures.

As far as specific cocktails go, there's one that comes to mind immediately as a contender for a little barbecue water –- the Bloody Mary, of course. That's like salad in a glass right there, but you certainly aren't limited to that when you're ready to try out barbecue water. For example, the Parmesan espresso martini counts as a candidate for a little barbecue water, particularly if you make the barbecue water from coffee-flavored barbecue sauce. Infused with Parmigiano Reggiano and decorated with shaved cheese on the rim, this adult beverage is a natural for a little barbecue flavor.

But barbecue water goes with more than just a cheesy coffee drink. On the simplest level, you may want to think about putting some barbecue water into your red beer. You could also make a case for a red snapper -– basically, a Bloody Mary with gin. Or a cucumber snapper -– same idea, except with cucumber juice added. It might also be fun to try with a sweet-and-savory Barbacoa. And we can't forget a bone and bacon, a bourbon drink with bone broth and bacon bourbon. If ever there was a drink that was practically begging for some barbecue water, that'd be it. The point is, pretty much anywhere you have a savory cocktail recipe, you have a candidate for a little or a lot of barbecue water, so sauce generously. You'll be glad you did.