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It’s Bo Time at The Verdant Lady (Photo courtesy The Verdant Lady)
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The “Duck Hunt” Old Fashioned at Shagbark (Photo courtesy Shagbark)
Imparting taste and texture, fat washing draws oil-soluble flavor compounds from a fat of choice into alcohol. After resting the components together at room temperature, freeze the mixture and skim off the solidified fats. The result: booze with a softer texture that’s imbued with newly developed salty, earthy, nutty or creamy notes. Animal fats, dairy butter and vegan nut butters are all good options.
Elijah’s Ascension
Elijah’s Ascension is a core drink on the JewFro menu. Their version of an Old Fashioned is kept versatile by rotating the fats they wash with Elijah Craig bourbon. They’ve used wagyu tallow, chicken schmaltz and clarified butter; ask about the latest version. Housemade cigar syrup lends a raisin-y, leathery sweetness.
Kanpai Kanpai
An audacious, delicious Japanese take on an Old Fashioned, this drink taps savory notes from its food components — miso butter-washed Toki whisky and sesame oil — instead of sweet, and it pays off. Plus, there’s a deep, round saltiness from the addition of nori (seaweed).
It’s Bo Time
The winner of the fat-washing creativity competition is The Verdant Lady, clocking in with a Bojangles biscuit concoction created by bartender Mel Rieg. Buttery vanilla icing, salty biscuit fat and blueberry filling wash through Cirrus vodka for a silky, fruity treat. The West End cocktail lounge amps up the blueberry flavor with a housemade syrup, adds to the drink’s complexity with black walnut bitters and softens the edges with egg white. Too bad they’re not open for breakfast.
‘Duck Hunt’ Old Fashioned
You can probably guess what fat they washed Elijah Craig in for this one. This version has a silky-smooth mouthfeel like the aforementioned cocktail, but the flavor imparted by the duck fat is saltier, leading to a butterscotchy beverage when combined with maple syrup.
