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A spicy, lime-filled, ice-cold cocktail is perfect for the dog days of summer. The sweltering heat of August cries out for a little chili pepper to help us sweat and cool down while also demanding something deeply thirst-quenching and citrus-y. Enter the spicy vodka gimlet.

While the classic gimlet is generally made with gin and Rose’s Lime, a hot summer day feels more like a vodka day. It’s simpler and less taxing without those gin botanicals. Add in some serious chili pepper that mimics the cooling juice from the bottom of a cold ceviche or pico de gallo bowl, and you’re really set.

To achieve that we’re using a very specific chili pepper vodka for this recipe, St. George Green Chile Vodka. That expression is made with layers of fresh bell peppers and various California-grown hot and mild chili peppers, along with a touch of lime and cilantro. The corn-vodka base is also dialed in and doesn’t have any of that “crafty” butterscotch or steely note that so many small producers can’t seem to get past when making their juice. This is high-quality flavored vodka that over-delivers on the promise of its label, making it perfect for this cocktail.

Now then, let’s get shaking!

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The Spicy Vodka Gimlet

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. St. George Green Chile Vodka
• 0.75 oz. Rose’s Lime
• Lime peel
• Ice

This is all pretty straightforward. I won’t restate everything about St. George’s chili pepper vodka from above. Still, this is the perfect base for this recipe. You can get the bottle here. Alternatively, you can use a standard chili pepper vodka if you can’t find this. Or you can infuse some standard vodka with sliced chili pepper overnight and then strain the pepper from the vodka and, voila, you have pepper vodka. But be warned, you won’t get the same depth/nuance as using St. George Green Chile.

Lastly, any legit gimlet needs Rose’s Lime, which you can find at any grocery or liquor store.

What You’ll Need:

• Cocktail shaker
• Cocktail strainer
• Coupe or lowball glass
• Jigger
• Paring knife

Method:

• Prechill the glass in the freezer for at least an hour.
• Add the two ounces vodka, .75 ounce lime cordial, and a handful of ice to a cocktail shaker. Affix the lid and shake gently for 10 to 15 seconds or until the shaker is ice cold to touch.
• Remove the glass from the freezer and strain the cocktail into it.
• Cut a thin slice of peel from a lime and express the oils over the glass (gently bend with your thumb and index finger with the outside of the long edges of peel toward the glass, making sure not to break the peel).
• Drop in the peel and serve.

Bottom Line:

This is great. It’s kind of like a spicy lime shooter in a cocktail format. The citrus is soft and welcoming, creating a limeade vibe while the chili, cilantro, and bell pepper all make appearances, which really add some depth.

This isn’t too hot but there is a fresh green chili pepper edge that kind of feels like standing in a pepper field and taking a bite of a fresh green chili pepper right off the vine. The mild cilantro and almost creamy lime really help balance the heat toward citrus and sweet, creating a nice nuance to the cocktail.

Overall, this is one of those cocktails that goes down almost too easily on a hot summer day. Consider yourself warned.

At some point over the last decade, there was a shift in how people responded to certain movies. Instead of getting one good Marvel movie every few years that satisfied fans and critics alike, the studio decided to jam-pack as much superhero content as they possibly could in one year, releasing various streaming shows, movies, and even some multiverse one-shot episodes. Yes! They are fun! But as time went on…they just became the standard. And fans have grown to expect handfuls of trailers and movies every year.

Others in the industry have noticed this. While fans love getting to see their favorite Marvel superheroes as much as possible, it becomes less of an exciting thing and more of an expected thing, which is the problem, according to the Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof.

Lindelof joined Vulture’s “Into It” Podcast to talk about a number of fun topics, including why Marvel just won’t let some of their storylines get a nice easy ending. He explained, “It’s always going to be hard because once you’ve got someone’s attention, you want to keep it. And so the idea of letting it go and not knowing if you’re ever going to get it back again is sort of like, it’s antithetical to the way that we’re wired.” It’s true: everyone loves to see Thor onscreen, as they have for the last decade. But when is it time to, you know, let Chris Hemsworth do anything else?

“From a slightly sort of more cynical standpoint, this is a business. It’s an industry. And if you make a couple of great Marvel movies, the instinct is, ‘We need to make more Marvel movies, and we need to expand this,’” Lindelof explained. “And I have this sort of interior feeling of like, ‘Wow, I wish they made less because it would make each one that came out a little bit more special. But I watch all of them. … People don’t want things to end. I do.”

It can make things seem a little less exciting when fans are constantly bombarded with new superheroes and content every few months, instead of taking the time to appreciate what they had so they can be praised individually instead of lumped together with seven other movies. As Marvel’s VFX artists have been pleading with the company for more time and pay, it’s time we learn to spread out these releases a bit more. It’ll be like 2008 again! So retro!

Of course, Lindelof knows that it’s ultimately a business that needs to keep making money. “I don’t begrudge them the right to keep it going. I’ve made prequels and sequels and reboots, so I can’t be a hypocrite and say, ‘God, come up with an original idea.’ Meanwhile, I’m making two Star Trek movies and Prometheus.” There is nothing wrong with a couple of fun reboots here and there….as long as they are good.

(Via Variety)

Donald Trump is probably experiencing a wide range of emotions at the moment: fear, paranoia, embarrassment, guilt, an overwhelming sense of dread that he’ll soon be trading his Mar-a-Lago palace for a cot behind bars. But last night it was rage that he was focused on.

After the FBI raided his palatial golf resort — apparently looking for classified documents about our nuclear weapons program that definitely weren’t supposed to be sitting in cardboard boxes down in Florida — Fox News ran a commercial made by The Lincoln Project that left Trump fuming. Rupert Murdoch’s media darling has been quietly distancing itself from their former right-wing golden boy for the past few months (though that took a dramatic turn this week), but Trump clearly still felt betrayed by his buddies there for hosting an ad created by the same group of Republican strategists who broke with their party after the 2016 election and spent most of Trump’s reign throwing public digs at the president and his cronies.

“Why does Fox put them on?” Trump raged on his Truth Social channel. “The perverts of the Lincoln Project were ‘run out of town’ after it was learned that they did some really ‘bad stuff.’ Perversion anyone? Now they have re-emerged with a different but similar name. Keep these sickos off television!”

Above is the ad that sent Trump into such a tantrum, and just a warning, it’s both hilarious and kind of weird.

(Via RawStory)

In April 2019, Michelle Branch and The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney got married. Now, though, that union is coming to an end: Branch confirmed to E! News that she and Carney are separating.

A Branch representative shared a statement with E! that says, “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

As for the rug that was pulled, On August 11, Branch accused Carney of infidelity in a now-deleted tweet from early that morning, writing, “Just found out my husband cheated on me with his manager […] while I was home with our 6 month old daughter.”

Carney has yet to offer a public statement about the separation.

After starting their relationship in 2015, the pair got engaged in 2017. They have two kids together: Rhys James Carney was born in August 2018, and this past February, Branch gave birth to Willie Jacquet Carney.

Aside from their marriage, Branch and Carney have also become musical collaborators. Carney produced and performed on Hopeless Romantic, Branch’s 2017 album that was her first since 2003’s Hotel Paper. Carney also co-produced Branch’s upcoming fourth album, The Trouble With Fever.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Jensen Ackles‘ performance as Soldier Boy is far and far away one of the best parts of The Boys Season 3. The Supernatural star brought a weary swagger to the classic Supe who presented the first real major threat to Antony Starr’s Homelander. Ackles’ deep, commanding voice also did some heavy lifting selling what’s basically an extremely dark (and horny) version of Captain America.

The hit Amazon series clearly knows that The Boys fans are all about Soldier Boy, so on Friday, the Vought International Twitter account shared a “preview” for Soldier Boy’s classic movie Red Thunder, which will now be available on the in-universe streaming platform Vought++ that recently took a not-so-veiled jab at the HBO Max fiasco. Obviously, the movie doesn’t really exist, but as Ackles revealed to Entertainment Weekly earlier in the summer, he actually shot more than just a promo. The actor filmed full scenes for Red Thunder, and now, you can watch one of them below.

Of course, The Boys account added a heaping helping of parody to the mix. According to the Vought tweet, Red Thunder will have a content warning to “properly prepare patriots before they press play.”

“This film portrays Soldier Boy as a hero of the American people,” the warning reads. “Though his time spent in Russian captivity radicalized him to a point where he took the life of Vought’s bravest lesbian, Queen Maeve, that should not dissuade us from remembering his time as a defender of democracy and freedom. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact so that we may all learn the lessons of history, together. Viewer discretion is advised.”

The first three seasons of The Boys are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

(Via Vought International on Twitter)

If ever the “Where’s Ja?” meme was unironically appropriate, it was this week after Irv Gotti’s appearance on the Drink Champs podcast. During the inebriated chat, Gotti waxed nostalgic about the success of Murder Inc., but also messily shared details of his inappropriate relationship with Murder Inc. artist Ashanti. Disappointed fans called him out on Twitter, while Ashanti collaborator Fat Joe stood up for her on his own podcast. But the voice people most wanted to hear tugging on Gotti’s elbow to check his out-of-pocket behavior was the tentpole artist of the label Gotti once helmed.

Ja didn’t disappoint, either, putting up a supportive Instagram post featuring photos of Ashanti performing with him. In the caption, he wrote, “Brotherly love… The last few days have been very turbulent for me but it’s time to land the plane… I love my sis I love my bro but I DO NOT condone or agree with the behavior nor the way Gotti handled things on drink champs.” However, he also asked to be left out of the situation between the two, referring to himself as “Switzerland” (the nation is famous for its neutrality in geopolitical conflict). “I hope y’all understand how uncomfortable this is for me being in the middle of something I wish to not be,” he wrote. “Going forward all I ask is to be left out of this please and thank you!!! Sincerely, Switzerland Bennett.” (As in, “my name’s Bennett, and I ain’t in it.”)

While it might not have been the outspoken stand that Fat Joe took earlier this week, Ja does appear to be someone that has Irv’s ear. Hearing that one of his closest peers doesn’t rock with his comments might be enough to shake him out of his melancholy funk.

Megan Thee Stallion had a big night yesterday: Aside from releasing her new album Traumazine, she was also the guest host of The Tonight Show. Aside from co-helming the episode with Jimmy Fallon, she also played the more traditional role of interview guest. During that chat, she revealed she recorded over 50 songs for Traumazine, 18 of which ended up on the album.

Fallon asked Meg how she knows when an album is ready and she responded:

“I feel like it just feels good. Like, I literally… this is the longest time I’ve ever taken to record an album. Like, I had at least 50 songs recorded for this, and we only chose 18. It was hard because as an artist sometimes, your label can kind of try to control you and tell you what to do, and they kind of pick your songs for you. But I feel like I made it a point to write all songs that I loved and I like and that meant something to me, so out of however many songs I wrote, all of them feel good to me. I could put out all 50 of those songs and they still mean something to me.”

The tracks that didn’t make Traumazine could end up coming out at some point, though: The host asked if the unused songs just go “in the vault” and Meg replied, “They go in the vault, but I think… I do stuff like release mixtapes and things like that, just to keep my hotties on their toes, like, ‘Hey, I’m about to drop something.’”

Check out the interview above.

Traumazine is out now via 1501 Certified/300 Entertainment. Listen to it here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As Warner Bros. Discovery attempts to “reset” the DC Extended Universe following the sudden shelving of Batgirl, more and more insider sources continue to paint a picture of chaos behind the scenes. It’s to the point where very few DC Comics project are looking safe right now. According to a new report, the Joker sequel starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga is the only film that’s actually greenlight right now. Everything else is in development, and there’s no guarantee of the projects moving forward. That includes The Batman sequel, which is no longer a sure thing despite the first Robert Pattinson installment delivering a solid hit for Warner Bros. during the pandemic.

Via Variety:

Writer-director Matt Reeves is on track for a sequel with star Robert Pattinson, but the project remains in development and does not yet have a greenlight — any future film is years away. Several other DC properties have been in development as feature films, some for years — “Wonder Woman 3” (with Patty Jenkins directing), “Superman” (with Ta-Nehisi Coates writing), “Zatanna” (with Emerald Fennell writing) and “Static Shock” (with Michael B. Jordan producing) — but there haven’t been any substantive updates on these films since news of them first broke. (A spokesperson for Warner Bros. declined to comment for this story.)

The situation looks even more grim over on the HBO Max side. While Variety reports that Harley Quinn seems to be safe thanks to its large following (Although, again, the situation is very fluid), Doom Patrol and Titans are most likely headed for cancellation. Any previously announced series like J.J. Abrams Justice League Dark are not looking good either as the Batgirl fiasco made it clear that anything DC-related has a target on its back right now.

(Via Variety)

Just days after roasting his dad Dennis for getting a pretty goofy-looking tattoo of himself, Drake has gotten some new ink of his own. Drake’s collection of tattoos ranges from sentimental to celebratory to outright goofy, as well, but his latest addition is way more sentimental than it is subtle. Everybody knows how much Drake loves his mom; he’s done several songs about her already, including “Sandra’s Rose” from his 2018 album Scorpion. His new tattoo takes inspiration from his mom’s name as well, inking her initials “S.G.” (for Sandra Gale) just below his left eye.

Of course, as with all things involving Drake, fans had thoughts. A Twitter search of “Drake tattoo” yields a trove of opinions ranging from exasperation (“Drake pissing me off with these tattoos,” wrote one annoyed fan) to admiration. “Drake getting braids and a face tattoo in his 30’s, let’s you know anything is possible,” joked another fan. “Go ahead and tell your manager to f*ck off the next time he asks you to mop the floor. Yolo.”

Some didn’t even believe that the image Drake posted to Instagram was even real. “drake did not get a face tattoo,” wrote one disbeliever. “it’s no way a n**** this calculated didn’t consider those consequences. i don’t believe you.” And while it’s entirely possible Drake is just here for the jokes and didn’t actually get his mom’s initials inked on his face (FWIW, it looks very much like it’s real), it’s probably funnier if he did, right? Like, if you just listed “the most Drake things Drake could possibly do,” you’re hitting that option somewhere in the top 40. Remember, Drake is the type of guy to do a lot of things no one expects but that would be pretty hilarious to see him actually do in real life.

Millie Bobby Brown is one of the more talented under-20 actresses working in Hollywood today. Outside of her breakout role in Stranger Things, she also added a spunky energy to Netflix’s better-than-it-looks Enola Holmes, and she provided human depth to the CGI slug-fest that is Godzilla vs. Kong. But before she was cast as Eleven, Bobby Brown was told that she was “too mature” to make it as an actress. She was 10 years old.

“I always knew that I was mature and I couldn’t really help that,” Bobby Brown told Allure. “[I felt] like no one was quite like me in school and no one was as mature as I was, [hearing that] was really hard because I thought [maturity] was a good thing. And then being told that it wasn’t, that I wouldn’t make it in this industry, it was so hurtful.”

She continued:

“I got really down about that. My parents told me, ‘Just do this one last audition on tape and then you can go outside and play with your friends again.’ So I said, ‘Okay, yeah, I should do this one because it looks cool.’”

That audition was for Stranger Things. Three months later, she was cast as Eleven.

Bobby Brown will next appear in Enola Holmes 2, where she earned a record-breaking salary.

(Via Allure)