December 30th (today) is National Bacon Day and aside from our birthday, we consider this to be the most important American holiday ever. Bacon brings so much joy to the food world, whether eaten totally on its own, crumbled on top of an otherwise healthy salad, or in a delicious BLT.
Can you tell we’re hungry?
Anyway, we know how much bacon has done for our meals, but what about our drinks? Bacon isn’t really the first thing that comes to mind when someone starts talking about liquor, but it should be no surprise that the culinary masterpiece that is bacon also brings the awesomeness to drinking as well. So, today as we celebrate those glorious strips of meat, we reflect upon the wonderful ways that bacon has made drinking alcohol so much better:
1) Three words for you: Bacon. Bloody. Mary. Bloody Marys are a classic brunch staple and so is bacon. Somewhere along the way, some genius put the bacon in the Bloody Mary. The rest? Well that’s history, my friends.
2) Bacon and bourbon are soul mates. If Forrest Gump had been much of a drinker, he probably would have said he and Jenny were like bacon and bourbon rather than peas and carrots. The smokiness from both the bacon and the bourbon pair together perfectly and the saltiness from the bacon adds something a little different. We’ve seen bacon and bourbon combined in many different ways and we have never been disappointed with the results. Try a bacon-infused Old Fashioned.
3) Bacon has made the flavored vodka trend slightly more bearable. Among the iffy sweet flavors like glazed donut, whipped cream and bubble gum, someone got it right and made a bacon flavored vodka. Whether you choose to infuse your own, or buy it off the shelf, bacon vodka can be a glorious addition to many cocktails. But beware, some of them are just plain awful.
4) Garnishes never tasted so good. We love a good lemon, lime or cherry garnishing our drink, but seriously – who wants those things when you can have a piece of bacon instead? Some bars and restaurants are opting to complete their drinks with a piece of crunchy bacon and we give that idea one thumb up (the other thumb is busy helping us holding our bacon).
No matter how you choose to incorporate bacon into your drinking schedule, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be disappointed in any way. Add it to your cocktail to celebrate the holiday today and be sure to toast to the bacon gods as a tribute to our ultimate national treasure.