One of our Stay at Home Cocktail tasters commented that I was creating a drink for another friend’s birthday. Here was his post on Facebook:

Happy birthday, McJunkin! I hear Stay at Home Cocktails is planning on creating a cocktail in your honor today: The McJunkin Junction. If a drink called the McJunkin Junction truly existed it would be composed of: 1 parts tequila in honor of Sam’s Texas upbringing, 1 parts watermelon in honor of East Texas, 1 parts Texas tea in honor of Sam’s time at UT, and the rim of the glass spackled with hard-rock candy in honor of you being a scientists in the geo/”rocks” field…

Well, it’s his birthday party today, and I’m supposed to bring a drink to share, so guess what I’m bringing. Yep, the McJunkin Junction. I had to make a couple changes, though.

First, watermelon is not in season, so I didn’t want to use it. No need to pay way too much for fruit that won’t taste good anyway. Second, I don’t know what Texas Tea is. Yes, I’m from Texas, but Texas Tea doesn’t mean anything to me. Some people say that it is Long Island Iced Tea made with Tequila, but regular Long Island Iced Tea is made with tequila anyway, so it makes no sense. So eliminate that. Third, I tried crushing Life Savers candies and putting them on a rim, but as soon as the lime touches it, the candy clumps and won’t stick. Fail.

So here is what I did:

• Use a Collins glass or other similar tall glass that has been prepared with sugar around the rim. Trust me: the sugar is key.
• 1 1/2 oz jalapeno tequila. Plain tequila isn’t enough; I wanted it to be spicy. Therefore, I went for my home macerated jalapeno tequila. Just steep chopped jalapenos in a jar of tequila for a few hours, and it makes quite a maceration. 
• 3/4 oz lime juice
• 1 1/2 oz Big Red. If you’re not familiar with Big Red, just think of it’s subtitle: Red Soda. It kind of says it all. I can’t stand it by itself, but it’s a Texas thing, so it works.
• Top with about 1/2 oz Dr. Pepper, which is another great Texas beverage.
• Crumble crushed Life Savers on top. 
• Squeeze a lime wedge and drop it in. 

This drink is unlike anything I have ever tasted, and it’s not for everyone. I like it because it’s so different, but my wife replied that it was “foul.” But then she said, “hmm, some people may like it.” That’s because of the way it goes down in the throat.

First, you taste the sugar, from both the soft drinks and the sugared rim. The sugar stays on the lips. Then, as the sugar passes over the tongue, the heat from the jalapeno takes over, and it becomes very spicy. Like I said, that jalapeno tequila is deadly.

I like it, and I think McJunkin will like it, too. After all, it’s kind of like him.