Bourbon Kissed By Bacon Fat

Jul 11

I’ve read a number of articles about fat washing cocktails. The depth it adds to the cocktail. The enhanced taste of the bourbon. The smokiness. Blah Blah AND Blah. Like I said, I’ve read a lot of articles on the process but was never really inspired to try it. Add to the mix that it required more planning then I usually have regarding cocktails. And I take my cocktails seriously, so that is saying A LOT. I mean, really sometimes you just want the drink and not over think it. Am I right?

On the 201 bajillion day of social distancing, I got nothing but time.

I used bacon grease cause you know, bacon is like air – you need it to survive. Plus, my 4 year old can eat a rasher in one sitting if I let him, so I always have a lot of bacon grease in a jar on my stove. I wonder if ‘other’ cultures keep a jar of grease in their kitchen? Hmmm

The long and short of fat washing: you can use any type of fat, but I used bacon grease; though I hear duck fat washing is also quite tasty. I cooked maple bacon, save a couple of slices for garnish. Let the grease cool. In a glass dish, with a lid, I poured about 8 oz of bourbon and added the cool grease to it. I didn’t measure the amount of grease, but easily 8 – 10 ounces to the bourbon. Cover the mixture with the lid and put it in the fridge. I left it overnight so the grease would harden. Next day, I scraped off the hardened fat and was left with maple bacon fat infused bourbon. It even had bits of bacon in it. You may see some random fat still in your bourbon, just strain it with a fine strainer and you’ll be fine.

Bacon fat and bourbon

24 hours later

For research purposes, I tried the bourbon neat: from the bottle and the fat washed version.

And Oh MY. I mean OH. EMM. GEE.

It is true, there is a difference - it is smoky and it softened the flavor of the bourbon. I then made an Old Fashioned with a slice of bacon and a wedge of orange. Have Mercy! It was AMAZING. And now I am adding fat washing to my repertoire.

Try it and let me know what you think.