Mutiny Island's smoked hot pepper vodka is perfect Bloody Mary fodder

USA Today

09-07-2025

Vodka's strength is its versatility. There's no spirit out there with more flavor variations than eastern Europe's drink of choice. Brands like Pinnacle and Burnett's have stocked their portfolios with wild variants ranging from the logical and flexible (orange) to the absurd and limited (pumpkin pie).
The bulk of these flavored vodkas are, uh, not especially well received. No shade there on my end; there's a place for everything and whipped cream vodka has browned out more of my nights than I'd care to admit. That leaves room for a higher plane of flavored spirits out there. I'm not sure Mutiny Island, made from breadfruit and Caribbean rainwater down in St. Croix and clocking in at $27 per fifth, fits that bill based on composition -- but if it tastes great, it might get there on quality alone.
But, admittedly, I don't want a sipping vodka. I want a vodka I can mix easily in my favorite drinks. A smoked hot pepper vodka? Heck yeah, sounds perfect for a bloody Mary (even if I just learned the beautiful ways of the Caesar up in Canada). Let's see how it works there.
Mutiny Island smoked hot pepper vodka in a bloody Mary with Zing Zang: A-
The most obvious place for spicy vodka is in a bloody Mary. I'm a bit shorthanded this time around, so let's get this out of the way. My garnish game? Terrible, especially for someone in Wisconsin. I didn't even have a pickle spear to drop into the mug; just little gherkins. I started with my typical base -- a little pepper, Worcestershire sauce and pickle juice -- before adding vodka and Zing Zang.
The vodka smells as advertised; spicy and smoky with a lingering, cutting current of alcohol underneath. I'd normally slop it up with a healthy dose of hot sauce (the one place where Tabasco still reigns supreme), but I want to know how spicy Mutiny Island can make my bloody on its own.
The answer is appropriately so -- maybe not as hot as I wanted, but there's a nice lingering heat that sticks to your tongue. It's savory and satisfying and, despite a liberal pour, not boozy-burny but spicy-burny. I kinda wish I had some cheese cubes and a beef stick as a garnish, because those would taste awesome after soaking in this cocktail.
While I'd like a little more spice, I really do appreciate the lingering flavor at the end of each sip. This is a balanced, proper bloody that's easy to come back to, and I'm slightly disappointed I'm not hungover to see how quickly I could get this into my bloodstream to revive me (and, potentially, prolong said hangover). For a hot pepper vodka, it's pleasantly restrained. It's gonna be my go-to bloody Mary vodka for a while.
Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's?
This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I'm drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That's the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm's. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Mutiny Island's smoked hot pepper vodka over a cold can of Hamm's?
I drank it with Hamm's as my beer back. I highly recommend it.
This is part of FTW's Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.