Cocktail Club as we know it, is coming to an end in just a few short months (or rather, metamorphosing into something NEW — stay tuned!), so we are all really relishing in these perfect afternoons, sipping lovely cocktails, and learning with each other! Our September event was one of perfection. The weather, the company, the cocktail, the food — it was all so wonderful and not soon to be forgotten.

This month, Caroline of Salt Tooth, made us a wonderful Maple Bacon Old Fashioned, complete with High West, fat washing, and clear, home made ice cubes!

So, with that being said, I am sure you have a lot of questions.

Fat washing? Bacon? How does this all work?

Well, Caroline was super great and provided some amazing step-by-step instructions, and you can also find more on fat washing (PS – it makes a cocktail pretty damn good) here at Punch Drink and their Benton’s Bacon-Fat Infused Bourbon Cocktail.

But, here is Caroline’s awesome rundown.

C/O Caroline Hargraves

Let’s think about that for a minute: Bacon-Fat Infused Rye.
And, not just any Rye — High West Double Rye.

YES. Yes to all of that.

Fat washing adds a silky, lovely component to your cocktails. It also adds a really amazing, velvety texture to how the cocktail feels in your mouth. The bacon flavor is subtle, adding a nice smokey complexity.

This cocktail is also a great one to pre-batch, which is what Caroline did. Pre-batching your cocktails makes it super easy to prepare for a group or party, and still have a quality cocktail that doesn’t take too much time on the back end to serve.

Here is Caroline’s recipe for the Maple Bacon Old Fashioned.

And don’t worry, she also made a browned butter version for anyone in the group that was vegetarian. Pretty wonderful!

C/O Caroline Hargraves

The other thing I want to mention when it comes
to the classic old fashioned cocktail is the cherry.

PLEASE, don’t ruin a beautiful drink like this with a maraschino cherry! Caroline used beautiful Jack Rudy Cocktail Cherries, and you can also pretty readily find Luxardo cherries (check out Boozetique!). You can even make your own bourbon-infused cherries, if you have some time! Or, as a last result, canned sour cherries are even better than the ultra-violet maraschino cherries you fine at the grocery store.

Rant over.

Caroline also rimmed this beautiful cocktail with maple syrup and smoked salt and sugar, which you can see is such a lovely presentation, and brings out the smoke in the bacon infused rye. So good!

Thank you, Caroline, for the lovely afternoon and a wonderful, thoughtful cocktail.

Give her a follow on Instagram at @SaltToothSLC!

Stay tuned for more about how HBN Cocktail Club will be changing in 2017!
@HeartbeatNosh | #HBNCocktailClub

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