We travelled to Bolivia to look into what is reportedly the strongest drinkable alcohol on the planet. Known in La Paz as caiman liquor, and Bolivian firewater everywhere else, this 90% proof, cane sugar derived spirit was not to be trifled with. You even have to burn it off before drinking it to lower the alcohol level. Our guides warned that it could send you blind. The shopkeeper we bought it off said that too much would kill you. Even Reyna and Juanita, the tough as nails female wrestlers we spent the week with, treated it with a reverence usually reserved for religious artifacts. In fact, Caiman liquor is used in many spiritual ceremonies, possibly because you can use it to set pretty much anything on fire (something we witnessed a number of times during our trip). Not surprisingly, we needed a lot of citrus and sweetness to make it palatable.
Ingredients
30ml Caiman liquor (use white rum if you’re outside Bolivia)
1 Orange
Fresh mint
1 Bottle of Schweppes Blood Orange Agrum
Ice
A match

Step 1. Put your Caiman liquor in a tall, flame proof glass.
Step 2. Tilt your glass and light the liquor with a match. After a few seconds, put the flame out by covering the glass with a plate or dish. (Skip this step if using rum).
Step 3. Squeeze half an orange into your glass and half fill it with ice.
Step 4. Take six mint leaves in the palm of one hand and clap your other hand against it three or four times. This will bruise the leaves and bring their flavour to the surface. Pop them into the glass.
Step 5. Now fill to the top with your Schweppes Blood Orange Agrum and garnish with a slice of orange.
Step 6. Before drinking in Bolivia, it’s customary to pour some of your drink out as an offering to mother earth. We recommend you do this outside.
Recipe courtesy of Schweppes and the Cocktail revolution