RECIPE: The Breakfast Cocktail

by Dave McCabe

I like bacon. But, then again, who doesn’t?

I feel indifferent about vodka.  I don’t love it or hate it.  I think it’s useful and I don’t shy away from it.  The neutrality of vodka can really work in your favor.  Like when you want your cocktail to taste like bacon.  ‘

I infused some Tito’s with bacon last week and then started mixing up cocktails.  Surprisingly, the bacon flavor was best brought out by using bacon grease, not actual bacon.  When I put chopped up bacon in my infusion what I got was a harsh and rough baconny-ness (sp?).  And when I used bacon grease I got a subtle smoky flavor that still had some vodka zip to it.

I decided that I would use my bacon vodka to make a breakfast cocktail – that is, taking everything that goes on my breakfast plate and putting it in a cocktail.  I had my bacon vodka and I reached for the obvious – eggs, maple syrup, lemon (think hollandaise) and grapefruit (bitters).  This was going to be my best cocktail ever or my worst cocktail ever.

It turned out to be one of the best.  If you’re feeling adventurous, check out the recipe below.  You’re friends will go through a few stages as they watch you shake this up.  Awe at your inventiveness, disgust at the thought of bacon in a cocktail, intrigued by the egg, then back to awe at how well it all works together.

The Breakfast Cocktail:

1 oz bacon infused vodka

0.50 oz maple syrup

0.50 oz lemon juice

1 Dash Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters

1/2 small egg white

First, to infuse the vodka, add 2 tablespoons of bacon grease to 10 ounces of vodka. Let is sit overnight.  The next day, pop it in the freezer for an hour and the bacon grease will coagulate, allowing you to pour off the vodka.

For the cocktail, add the vodka, maple syrup, egg white, lemon juice and bitters to your shaker.  Since you’re using an egg white, you need to shake the crap out of this.  I try to go for a full minute.  Strain the cocktail over ice and you’ll have a delicious, slightly tart but rich and flavorful cocktail.  The egg gives it a great head and nice viscosity while the maple syrup gives it a richness that balances the lemon.  Seriously, give it a try.