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Before Don Lee at NYC’s PDT cocktail bar put bacon fat in bourbon in an Old Fashioned in 2007, nobody had heard of fat-washed cocktails. It’s one of those techniques that seems like it’s been around much longer than it actually has. Perhaps because, at its core, it’s centuries old: Parisian perfumiers have been practicing it since the days of Louis XIV. Fat is soluble in alcohol; by allowing it to infuse with alcohol (and, in the case that you are going to drink it and not spray it behind your ears, a liquor) the aromatics and flavors of said fat are conveyed by its host. Whether that is fat from peanut or pig matters not. Some drinkers, whether for dietary reasons or simple revulsion at the idea of sipping on said swine, would rather opt for a plant-based version. Though, in reality you are consuming slim to nil fat in either case, since the solids are removed. You May Also Like: The Maple Bacon Old Fashioned Hits All the Right Brunch Notes Fat washing is a trick of the senses. You might fat wash vodka with butter. Left behind is the ghost of the butter—its taste and smell, maybe some mouthfeel, but almost none of its fat. Those cocktails have occupied a quirky spot on craft cocktail menus for at least a decade, but more recently vegan counterparts have been making the scene. Sesame oil and peanut butter paved the way for hazelnuts and pistachios and pecans and olive oil. Though dietary restrictions are far from the only reasons for this trend. Tiago Amaral, head mixologist at Denver’s Deviation Distilling recently introduced an entire “Washed” section to his cocktail menu with a wide range of vegan fat-washed cocktails. He worked his way through canola and sunflower and more neutral oils to arrive at the ones that imparted the desired amount of flavor. And, in addition, a boost in texture, says Amaral: “You definitely add a more pronounced and stronger mouthfeel. You taste the weight of it.” To speed the research and development process he’s made fine use of a separator. You can use the chill method, where fat is frozen and removed, or mechanical means, like the separator, to similar ends, but the separator is much faster, allowing for more experimentation driven by culinary curiosity. “I believe any cocktail with a richer mouthfeel pairs better with food,” says Brett Lander, general manager of Bloom Plant Based Kitchen, a popular vegan restaurant in Chicago that has offered fat-washed cocktails. You May Also Like: How Pros Pair Wine with Plant-Based Proteins “If you had asked me 15 years ago about vegan fat washing, I would have thought it was a CIA interrogation technique used on members of PETA,” says Michael Richardson, beverage director at Kapu in Petaluma, California, and winemaker at Jupiter Wine Co. “But my head is in a better place now.” That better place has opened him to experiment with sesame oil and Japanese whisky and pecan-washed bourbon at Kapu. While nut oils can shine in whiskey, animal fats don’t always work well in lighter spirits. “I find that animal fats tend to work best in barrel-aged spirits. Using, say, a gin or vodka, the animal fat tends to dominate the resulting flavor,” says Johnny Adair, bar manager at Yarrow in Denver. “It’s difficult to get the right balance between too much flavor from the fat or lacking mouthfeel and body from the wash, and a really great solution is replacing animal fat with vegetable-based fats.” Sesame State of Mind Courtesy of Tiago Amaral, head mixologist, Deviation, Denver, Colorado Ingredients 1¼ ounce sesame oil-washed gin* ½ ounce ginger liqueur ¾ ounce lemongrass simple syrup (1:1 lemongrass tea to sugar) 1 ounce coconut milk 6 dashes Thai chili (or other spicy) bitters 1 1-inch chunk of cucumber Lime, for garnish Instructions Muddle cucumber. Dry shake and strain. Add to rocks glass. Add all remaining ingredients (except bitters and garnish) to rocks glass. Stir well. Dash with bitters and garnish with lime. *How to Make Sesame Oil-Washed Gin Combine 750 ml of gin and 1 1/2 ounce of sesame oil in a container. Leave the mixture out on the counter for 4 hours, stirring a few times to agitate and infuse. After 4 hours, place in freezer overnight to freeze the fat solids. After 12–24 hours, remove and pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer (a Chinois strainer works best) with a filter in it (ideally an oil filter, but a coffee filter will work) to separate the liquid. Discard the solids and reserve strained liquid. This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Click here to subscribe today! Bring the World of Wine to Your Doorstep Subscribe to Wine Enthusiast Magazine now and get 1 year for $70 $29.99. Subscribe

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