Yes, you’re eyes are not deceiving you. I said bacon. I said bourbon. If you’re anything like me, you are doing backflips right now at the thought of this.
I remember calling up a few friends the first time I heard of a Benton’s Old Fashioned. Some dude (Don Lee), from NYC had cracked the code. In 2007, he used some form of black magic to combine both of the world’s greatest ingredients, in the form of a cocktail. He no longer works at PDT but it is still served there today as one of their best selling drinks.
To me it was a magical time filled with wonder, excitement, and curiosity. It sounded a little weird. My brain started to go into overload. I couldn’t process the information. I found myself both in disgust and partially aroused. The weird/culinary side of me really wanted to try to recreate the magic. The logical part of my brain was like, “Slow down you old fuck boi, remember trying this?”
Lester’s Fixins Bacon Soda, is a perfect example of shoving bacon where it doesn’t belong. Yes I did drink it. Yes it was awful. It sort of tastes like, what dog treats smell like, if they were covered in maple syrup and burnt hair. Thank god my body’s reaction to the first initial taste of this soda was to profusely vomit. That helped cover up some of it’s awful taste. If happen to have serious mental health issues and love torturing yourself, I highly recommend it.
**“To bacon, or not to bacon, that is the question”. **
After recovering from the intense depression and mental anguish that Lester Fixin’s Bacon Soda brought me I knew it was time to face my fears and try to create a bacon bourbon. The sheer magnitude of a success here would surely restore my faith in putting bacon in odd places. I’m glad I did. It’s pretty wonderful. Today I’m going to show you an easy way of how to do it yourself.
This process of infusion is called “fatwashing”. It’s a process that will use an oil or fat (in our case bacon) and infuse it into the ethanol. Don’t worry if you do it correctly there won’t be oil floating in your drink. This process doesn’t effect the “mouth-feel” of the the alcohol either.
Things you’ll need:
• 750ml bottle of bourbon.
• 1 quart sized jar or bottle.
• 1 jar larger than a quart (or multiple smaller jars).
• 4-5 slices of bacon (and a way to cook them).
• A funnel.
• Coffee filters.
First things first, you’ll need to choose your bourbon.
Then I ran into this guy.
Johnathon “J.O.” Owen, was behind the bar where The Party Source (local liquor store), serves samples to customers. After describing to him what I was trying to do, (and of course preaching the word of SteemIt), he was happy to help me make the selection.
By the way if you get a chance go to this man’s YouTube channel his channel (ThePartySource) and tell him to get his ass over to SteemIt.
He ended up suggesting a bourbon called “1792”. I’m glad he did. I had never tried this bourbon before then, but it’s extremely good. Definitely a great value and contender at the $25-$30 dollar range.
As far as picking your bourbon, try to pick a “spicy” bourbon. A bourbon with a high rye content on the mash bill, should help to compliment the smokey flavor of the bacon and make this recipe induce a flavor explosion on your palate.
Some common brands of bourbon that fit this category are: Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, and Buffalo Trace. All have their own unique characteristics and all are wonderful examples of spicy bourbon. If you can’t get any of those in your area, that’s fine. Just choose your favorite. This recipe will still be a hit when you and your friends get together next time.
Before we begin let’s speak a little about bacon.
The level of smokey complexity that bacon brings to this recipe, is determined by the type of bacon you choose. This time around I went with a thick-cut applewood smoked bacon to add a more subtle layer to my bourbon. Applewood has a more mild taste than most wood used to smoke. In retrospect, although it was still fan-fucking-tastic, I won’t be doing that again. This recipe is meant to be sensory overload. Go all-in and get a hickory smoked bacon. Hickory should give you that intense bacon flavor you are searching for.
Okay, I think we’re ready to start.
Step 1.
Start by frying 4-5 slices of bacon on a medium low heat. Slow and low is the key to reaching bacon nirvana. If you fry the bacon too hard or fast it will most like add some unwanted flavors to the fat you’re rendering.
Step 2.
While you’re bacon is cooking add your wonderful bourbon to a one quart jar or container. This should leave plenty of room for your bacon grease and bourbon to get to know each other.
Step 3.
After your bacon is done, remove the pan from the burner and let your newly rendered fat cool. This should give you ample time to make a great BLT. If you’re like me and absolutely just destroy the bacon how it is, this should take about 10 minutes. You don’t want the grease to solidify here. You want it still in liquid form, but you don’t want it to be hot. Just warm.
Step 4.
Grab an empty jar and place your funnel on top. Line the inside of the funnel with a coffee filter. If you’re having trouble keeping the coffee filter in the funnel don’t fret, the weight of the grease will hold it in place. If you are not entirely sure, use a rubber band to secure the coffee filter to the outside of the funnel.
Once your setup is ready, pour the golden colored grease into the funnel. The filtering process is a little slow but this will be worth it in the long run. You don’t want bits of bacon floating in your bourbon. As @abarefootpoet would say, “C’mon man that’s just disturbing”.
Step 5.
Add about 1.5 ounces of your filtered bacon grease to the quart sized jar you filled with bourbon. Secure a lid on the jar and let it sit at room temperature for approximately 4 hours.
This is where the magic happens. The ethanol molecules in the bourbon and the fat molecules from the bacon start making love and combine to make something truly magical. Yes, I’m implying that bacon and bourbon can make love. Yes, this bacon infused goodness is like sex in your mouth.
While this is going on you should clean your funnel and make sure it has no grease residue on it.
After you let the bacon and bourbon do it’s thing for the 4 hour period. Place the jar in your freezer for additional two hours. They just got hot and steamy. They need to cool off.
Step 6.
After you pull the bourbon, and bacon grease mixture out of the freezer it should look like the picture below. This makes the filtering process much easier. My grease solidified in the freezer with a few holes. If that didn’t happen for you poke a couple holes in the grease so the bourbon can escape from the jar.
Setup another funnel lined with a coffee filter on a new jar that is larger than a quart.
Pour a small amount of the bourbon into the funnel and let it filter. Repeat this process until all bacon bourbon has been filtered.
For me, this is where things got a little difficult. I didn’t have any jars available that were bigger than a quart (or even an extra quart sized jar for that matter). If you find your self in the same scenario here, just use multiple jars or containers to hold the filtered bacon bourbon until filtering is complete.
Discard the fat from the jar you used for infusion and thoroughly clean it. Then combine all of your newly filtered bacon bourbon back into the infusion jar.
***Pro Tip: You could always use the left over fat in another dish. You don’t have to throw it away. I bet it would make some amazing hush puppies.
“Fuck yes! I’ve made it. It’s wonderful! Kryptik you are the messiah. Kiss my baby, please. Forgive me for ever doubting you.”
“ Wait… What am I going to do with all of this deliciousness, douche bag?”
That’s easy, try my variation of Benton’s Old Fashioned.
The Bluegrass Breakfast:
Ingredients:
• 2oz. Bacon infused bourbon.
• 1/4oz. Grade A maple syrup. (I’m sure you can substitute anything a lower grade and be fine).
• 2 dashes of orange bitters. (I recommend “Hella Bitters” version, it is an awesome company).
• A splash of orange juice.
Add ice, bourbon, maple syrup, and bitters to a shaker. Shake the contents until you feel they are mixed well and strain into a glass. Finish the drink with a splash of orange juice and garnish the drink to your tastes.
Don’t be scared of this drink. It’s orgasmic. The smokey richness of the bacon, spicy flavor from the bourbon, and the sweet acidity of the orange all intersect to create stimulating effect on your taste buds. It’s a party in your mouth. Speaking of parties, when you share this at a party you will be heralded by all. In fact your friends will throw you a parade. This drink will also guarantee you copious amounts of sex.
*This is not my only drink that I have concocted with this infusion. I’m curious however, to see what drinks the brilliant minds here at SteemIt can come up with. If you create a custom cocktail using this bacon bourbon make sure you link it in the comments section!
What else would you all like to see in the future? Give me some base ingredients below, and I’ll try my best to make you a great version of a custom drink using those ingredients.
Everything bit of the SBD I make from this post will be used to purchase cameras and equipment so I can improve quality and keep bringing you great content in the future.*
BLESS ME WHALE OVERLORDS!!!!!
Thanks for reading!