Over the last few weeks, a stream of customers has walked into The Hoxton hotel’s Mediterranean restaurant Cira, 200 N. Green St. But rather than ordering what’s on the menu, they’re asking for something a bit odd: a hot dog daiquiri.
Or as Cira front house manager and “bar princess” Katie McCourt likes to call it, the Hot Diggity Daiquiri.
While it may seem like an odd request, McCourt understands why so many customers are asking about the creation.
McCourt, a cocktail creator and the restaurant’s longtime bartender, went viral last month when she made a hot dog-inspired cocktail and shared it online, with the post garnering nearly 200,000 views. The concoction has cocktail staples like lime juice and tomato oil, along with some unique ingredients like mustard syrup, celery root liqueur and sausage.
McCourt walked through the recipe: Starting with a celery root liqueur base by Apologue, McCourt then adds mustard simple syrup, white rum, lime juice and a few drops of tomato oil. The cocktail is shaken, strained and served with a mini hot dog garnish.
The concoction allows people to “eat the hot dog and drink the toppings,” McCourt said.
The drink’s flavor profile is “herbaceous,” McCourt said. It’s the Goldilocks of hot dog cocktails: “not super sweet, but not savory. Kind of right in the middle.”
The drink has drawn a mix of reactions from Dominick’s followers, with some suggesting adding a poppyseed rim or Malört “to really Chicago it up.”
Another wrote, “Just because you can doesnt mean you should.”
