When we were in New York last month for Idiots’Tour 2012, I was walking in the East Village with my friend Joshua Wolf Shenk. He suggested we stop at a juice bar for a pick-me-up. I’m not in the habit of being picked up by juice, but I went along for the ride. Josh browsed for a while and eventually selected a tiny bottle. Glancing at the price tag, I was skeptical. How could 2 ounces of juice possibly cost $8? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. But that was before I met the Volcano.

One day long ago when I was young and very foolish, I jumped off a 70-foot cliff into the frigid water of a quarry in Massachusetts. The jump was not just a thrill but also a progression, from a state of dormancy to a state of electric excitement. I would describe my experience drinking the Volcano much the same way. A blend of ginger, lime, oregano, and cayenne, it is no ordinary juice. One sip and my insides were on fire (the good kind) as my body cycled into a higher gear. As Josh and I continued our walk through the neighborhood, I could feel my skin glowing and my fingernails growing and my grey matter expanding in my skull.

I was inspired by the Volcano and resolved that I would recreate it at home. And so I took a picture of the label.

Today, sick as a dog, sluggish and congested and in need of a pick-me-up, I decided that the time had come to set up my laboratory. After all, isn’t oregano supposed to be very good for a cold? I looked at my photo of the label and had it confirmed.

And so I went to the store and gathered the ingredients. Fresh ginger (I do not know if it was organic).

Lime.

Oil of oregano.

And cayenne. We could not find cayenne extract, so I used powdered cayenne. Here’s hoping it has the same circulation-enhancing, pathogen-killing, fat burning qualities.

I peeled the ginger.

And fed it into the juicer.

I added the oregano and the cayenne.

And I added the lime.

I added some water.

And then I stirred. And then I drank.

The result was downright incendiary.

Who needs coffee when I can drink a volcano?

I’m still sick. But at this moment I feel like I could throw a compact car over the barn if I had to. Good thing I don’t have to.

If you’re interested in making your own Volcano, here are the ingredients (and the proportions I chose):

1.5 tablespoons ginger juice
2 tablespoons lime
4 drops oil of oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 tablespoons water

I have no idea how close I’ve gotten to the actual Volcano, and frankly, I don’t care. I plan on drinking it until I get hair on my chest. Which is to say, I plan to keep on drinking it for a long, long time.