We have before us on the bar the new Old-Fashioned. What’s new about this stalwart cocktail is its hook: bacon. My initial reaction to the pork ranged from intrigue to skepticism to what the hell – I need to try this. The drink found me as I sat sipping wine in the Clever Wine Bar in Mid-City, New Orleans. Resident mixologist Sean Thibodeaux regaled me with tales of rosemary-infused simple syrup served with a silver tequila and homemade seltzer; I knew I had to try his Old-Fashioned.
Research & Design –
The Old-Fashioned’s history began in Kentucky where it was concocted by the bartender of a gentleman’s club. Bourbon, sugar, a couple of dashes of bitters with a splash of branch water were the basic ingredients. Fruit, such as oranges and cherries, were added during Prohibition to cover the strong bitter taste of bootleg bourbon.
Bacon-infused bourbon was the brainchild of cocktail guru Don Lee, of New York’s East Village. Don’s mantra regarding cocktails is, “more savory, less sweet” and I agree. There is no better place to start with savory then bacon. More reason to try bacon in a cocktail is that, in addition to savory as one of the tongue’s taste sensations, continuing research shows evidence for the distinct possibly that fatty acids are the 6th taste. Think about these different combinations and how your taste sensors react the next time you bite into some bacon.
The first step to making this Old-Fashioned requires infusing the bourbon. Does the type of bacon you use matter? The simple answer is yes, but for a myriad of reasons. Some people like their bacon smoked with hickory, maple or mesquite; some prefer it heavily peppered. You may find some of the different varieties of bacon infuse better than others with the bourbon. Thus, you may need to experiment for personal preference.
What bourbon to use for the infusion process? Again, personal preference is the key to your experimentation.
How to make Bacon Infused Bourbon:
1. Cook bacon in pan and save the rendered fat.
2. When bacon fat has cooled a bit, pour off one ounce from pan.
3. Pour bourbon into a non-porous container.
4. Strain the bacon fat into the container and infuse for 4 to 6 hours at room temperature.
5. Place the mixture in a freezer until all of the fat is solidified. With a slotted spoon, remove fat and strain mixture back into bottle.
Ingredients for the Bourbon-Bacon infusion:
3 or 4 slices of bacon, or enough to render 1 ounce of fat
1 750-ml. bottle of bourbon
Ingredients for the Old Fashioned:
2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon
1/4 ounce Grade B maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Twist of orange
Taste -
The moment of truth had arrived when Sean set the drink in front of me. Though this infusion has been around for almost two years, hardly anyone I’ve spoken to has heard about it. Of the few who had, some said it’d taste like breakfast with the bacon and maple syrup in it. Others thought it would merely have a smoky taste.
A three-piece band in the corner was playing, appropriately enough, some blues music as I got ready to sip. A harmonica wailed as I brought the glass to my nose. There were bright notes on the bouquet with no discernable smoky or bacon smell. Sweetness was the front note on my tongue from the maple syrup. I remembered Sean telling me the savory hits the tongue lastly and subtly. The smoothness of the bacon-infused bourbon, as you swallow, is felt in the back of the tongue and mouth. It is a unusual, but pleasant sensation. An Old-Fashioned is a sipping drink and the benefits to doing so allows the flavors to become more pronounced as the ice melts and the drink begins to lose its chill.
Until the next round, here’s mud in your eye! Salud.
