Fat Washing

I know it doesn’t sound very appetizing, but fat washing is another amazing way to create a full and rich sensation in cocktails. Fat washed spirits are even great sippers on their own.

So what is fat washing exactly?

Fat washing is 1 of several categories of washing we do to either remove unwanted flavors out of something or wash flavor into it. Fat washing specifically is used to take the good flavors out of a fat or oil and impart it into a spirit. We could use many kinds of fat. A few favorite types of fats I’ve seen used well or have done myself are:

• Bacon Fat

• Duck Fat

• Olive Oil

• Sesame Oil

• Coconut Oil

• Peanut Butter

• Butter

The process from start to completion would take a few hours investment, but the result as I mentioned is something you’ll want to do over and over because it’s not only fun, it’s also extremely delicious.

Equipment

Base spirit (rum, gin, whiskey, tequila, vodka)

fat

optional but highly recommended, double opening infusion bottle from Crew Supply Co.

Technique

The first step in any fat wash is to determine the fat to use. It is crucial to choose a fat that taste good. If it doesn’t taste good on its own, it’s not going to taste good when it’s been washed into the spirit. Also keep in mind that fat washing your liquor with dairy or an animal fat will only be good for 2 weeks stored in the fridge. Non animal products such oils and nut butters are shelf stable. Don’t confuse fat washing with a dairy product to milk washing. Milk washing is another form of washing, but it isn’t to infuse flavor into the liquor. The milk is used to remove impurities, astringencies and harshness out of liquor when making something such as a milk punch. Milk punches are shelf stable indefinitely. I’ll have a write up on milk punches in the future.

• For the ratio, we want to aim for a 4:1 spirit to fat ratio when using a more intense fat flavor such as bacon or sesame oil.

• For less intense oils and fats such as coconut oil or butter, we want to use a 3:1 spirit to fat ratio.

1. Once you’ve decided on the fat to use, before we add it to the liquor, we need to make sure if the fat is in a solid form at room temperature, that we melt it first.

2. Decide on which spirit you’re going to infuse with the fat.

3. Assuming we’re using a standard 750 ml bottle of liquor, we’ll need to pour out 1/4 or 1/3 of the liquor to make room for the fat we’ll be adding in.

   • If using a Crew Supply double opening infusion bottle, add the 3/4 or 2/3 of the liquor to this bottle now.

4. Next add the fat to the bottle containing the liquor and close it back up. Let it sit for about an hour. Shake it up every once in a while during the first 30 mins of the resting/sitting phase.

5. Once the hour has arrived and the fat has floated to the top, put the bottle still containing both liquor and fat into the freezer.

6. After a couple hours, the fat should have solidified at the top by the bottle neck.

   • If using a Crew Supply double opening infusion bottle. All you need to do now is unscrew the base opening and pour the fat washed liquor through a coffee filter, nut bag, or cheese cloth to strain out any large fat solids. Then pour the strained fat washed spirit back into it’s original bottle and close the bottle.

   • If you’re not using a Crew Supply and are fat washing in the original liquor bottle, you need to poke a hole through the fat so the liquor underneath can be poured out into a coffee filter, nut bag, or cheese cloth to strain out any large fat solids. Then pour the strained fat washed spirit into a different/new clean bottle.