Make Mine A Bakon Vodka!

Yes, that’s right – bacon flavoured vodka.

People have been mixing savory ingredients with alcohol as long as we have been drinking alcohol. Writers from the 17th century, including John Locke and Samuel Pepys frequently imbibed and wrote about savory infused ales. It turns out that mixing sweet and savory in food and beverage is not a new idea.

Around the world today, high-end lounges are serving a variety of “carnivorous cocktails.” The best mixologists are like chefs behind the bar and they don’t want to be limited to standard fruit-flavored infusions. These bartenders have found that the savory aspect of bacon makes a great dominant profile in a cocktail like a Bakon martini with a blue cheese-stuffed olive. But it can also take the back seat, with bacon’s smoky flavor subtly enhancing the taste in a concoction like a Chocolate Martini.

The makers of Bakon Vodka started out testing various infusions in their kitchen in the fall of 2007. They wanted to do it right, to create a premium-quality vodka that you’d enjoy drinking. To match an infusion, they tested recipes for over two years, finally landing at the one true “Bakon Vodka”.

They start with a superior quality potato vodka. Distilled in Idaho from potatoes, it is smooth, slightly sweet with the well-rounded flavor that you only get from a quality potato distillation, with no strong burn or aftertaste. Their vodka is column-distilled using a single heating process that doesn’t “bruise” the alcohol like the multiple heating cycles needed to make a typical pot-still vodka. Getting the perfect savory bacon flavor took them a while to get right too. They wanted it to have the essence of a delicious crisp slice of peppered-bacon.

Try it for yourself and see if you agree. Here are a selection of recipes:

Bakon Mary
• 1½ oz. Bakon Vodka in a pint glass filled with ice.
• Fill glass with tomato juice
• 1 dash each of celery salt and ground black pepper
• 2-4 dashes each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco
• 1/8 tsp. horseradish

Shake and pour into a salt rimmed pint glass. Garnish with a celery stalk and your
favorite pickled vegetables.

Bakon Chocolate Martini
• 1 part Bakon Vodka
• 1 part chocolate liqueur
• A splash of cream

Combine in a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Strain and pour into a sugar-rimmed martini glass.

The Elvis Presley
• 1 part Bakon Vodka
• ½ part hazelnut liqueur
• ½ part banana liqueur
• splash of cream

Shake with ice and served like a Martini -or- strained into a shot glass.
Created by Scott Marx from Rock Bottom Brewery in Bellevue, WA.

And finally, you may want to eat something to soak up all this alcohol:

Bakon Vodka Marinated Steak (Serves 6)
• 1/3 cup Bakon Vodka
• 1 tablespoon sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• A slice of beef cut from the top of the rump, about an inch thick or 24 ounces
Combine marinade ingredients and put into a closed container with the beef, making sure to evenly coat with herbs. Marinate for 3 hours at room temperature. Or for superior results, marinate for 1 to 3 days in the refrigerator before cooking.

Cook to preferred temperature, and enjoy.

Tags: alcohol, bacon flavoured vodka, Bakon, cocoktails, martini