Hello, do-it-yourselfers. Making bacon-infused bourbon will impress your friends and warm your soul. We might suggest planning a cocktail party around it. Think of the wonderful appetizers that would complement.
Another idea: make a few bottles for the great dads in your life. Father’s Day is June 19th.
SummitSips.com walks us through how it’s done:
The smokiness that typifies cured bacon is important. Look for an extremely smoky bacon. The stronger the flavors the better. Whatever you use, plan to eat a good, healthy portion of bacon, because all you need is the fat!
The process of infusing umami (or savory) into bourbon is called fat-washing. Follow these steps.
Bacon Infused Bourbon
.33 cup of rendered bacon fat
3 cups of bourbon
Cook a pound of bacon and reserve the rendered fat. Add .33 cup of hot fat to a jar and fill with bourbon. Seal and allow to stand until it reaches room temperature. Place the jar in the freezer for 24 hours. The fat will solidify but the bourbon will remain in a liquid state. Open the jar and pour off the bourbon, straining through a coffee filter or cheesecloth to remove any loose fat particles.
Bottle it and slap on a cool label, or mix it up:
Benton’s Old Fashioned
2 oz bacon-infused bourbon
.25 oz maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
orange twist
In a mixing glass filled halfway with ice, combine all ingredients. Stir. Then strain into a tumbler with one large ice cube. Garnish with a twist of orange.
Cigar makers, take note, this flavor combo would make a helluva smoke.
I made this and had it with the old fashioned.At straight I could not taste it at all and not with the old fashioned either.I then mixed the old fashion with a bit of lemonade and then I could taste the bacon.I think the whisky overpowers it a bit.