Are Fat-Washed Cocktails A Good Idea?

If you’ve been to a bar in the last decade, chances are you’ve seen a fat-washed cocktail on the menu. This technique has been around for a while and used by many bartenders and mixologists all over the country, but it’s not necessarily the most common item the average cocktail sipper may order.

What is Fat Washing?

Apothecary Oyster Rockefeller photo credit Samantha Marie Photography

So what is it exactly, and why is there such continued hype around it? To fat-wash a cocktail, you first infuse alcohol with an oily fat, then freeze it allowing the fat to separate, so it can be easily removed before adding it to your drink. What you get is a cocktail that is enhanced in flavor and texture.

“Fat-washing a spirit is like spreading soft butter across warm bread,” says Tanner Agar, owner of Apothecary in Dallas, and serves an Oyster Rockefeller shot that’s made of a hollandaise washed vodka. “The velvety texture and rich flavor is irresistible.”

The name itself can be a little off-putting. Not everyone craves fat in their drink. However, there are many options when it comes to which fats to use, as Sam Penton, beverage director of Rosewood Miramar Beach points out. “You can fat-wash a spirit with animal fat, nut fat, or oils which belong in a similar category,” he says. “I have a hard time with the term ‘fat washing’ because it immediately adds negative connotations. There are good fats and good oils just like there are bad fats and bad oils. When it comes to cocktails, this is differentiated by how silky and complimentary the texture is.”

How Did Fat Washing First Come About?

Iberian Harmony photo credit LEKU

Even though some may not have heard this term before, fat-washing is not new. It first became popular around 2007 by Don Lee, a bartender at PDT (Please Don’t Tell) in New York, says Nicholas Casanov, lead mixologist at Miami’s MICHELIN-recognized LEKU. The cocktail that started it all was the Benton’s Old Fashioned made with a bacon fat-washed bourbon. Today, Casanov serves his own fat-washed Old Fashioned at LEKU called Iberian Harmony made with rare the Macallan cacao scotch washed in Iberico ham fat.

But even before it became a thing in New York, Jim McCourt from Prohibition Charleston in South Carolina says fat-washing goes back to perfumers who would use this technique “in making perfume.” He also says it’s still popular today because of how easy the process is, which many can agree, including Random Ward, Woodford Reserve Texas Brand Ambassador.

“It is a simple technique to introduce complex flavors and textures that would be otherwise impossible to add to cocktails,” Ward says. “Much like milk clarification and acid adjusting it’s a technique that has grown in popularity as the industry has adopted more technique driven cocktails as standard.”

Fat Washed Old Fashioned photo credit Noko

The Asian-inspired restaurant Noko in Nashville, Tennessee uses this popular technique to create its signature Old Fashioned made with wagyu fat washed Angel’s Envy bourbon. “We wanted to incorporate something from our smoker program here at Noko into the cocktail program,” says Wilson Brannock, managing partner at Noko. “We decided to use rendered down fat from the cooking process of the brisket on our menu to fat-wash Angel’s Envy Bourbon.” Brannock explains the end result offers more weight to the spirit and makes for a more interesting sipping experience.

Pros and Cons of Fat-Washing Cocktails

Fat-washing can help amplify taste and texture to a cocktail. However, it doesn’t mean fat-washing is perfect by any means. Rebecca Monday, beverage specialist for Ellis Adams Group says she loves using fat-washing as a technique to “create an interesting talking point and a unique experience for customers,” but the process “requires careful handling.” If not done properly, fat-washing can not only overwhelm other flavors in the cocktail, but there can be potential health risks, such as bacteria from the fat.

Casanov from LEKU also adds that even though this technique can amplify a drink by removing any unwanted astringent flavors, fat-washing can also shorten the shelf life of the spirit.

But that’s not all. If not strained properly, there’s a chance you can have too much fat in your drink, says Brannock from Noko. Plus, if it’s not infused long enough, the fat won’t have enough time to seep into the fat, leaving you with a drink lacking in flavor.

Ward from Woodford Reserve experienced fat-washing go wrong firsthand when he first started testing out this technique years ago. “For my first attempt at olive oil washing a gin for a freezer door martini I used a lower quality olive oil,” he says. “The resulting flavor was flat, slightly rancid, and ultimately made for a terrible cocktail.” After that, Ward made sure to only use higher quality oil and washed the vermouth to create a more “subtle flavor.”

Making Sure You Get Fat-Washing Right

Chocolate & Wine cocktail photo credit Sexy Fish

Mastering fat-washing can be a bit of trial and error, as Ward found out himself. Luckily, there are some tips to follow to help it go as smoothly as possible. Ward suggests “people fat-wash in small batches and experiment with the technique, see what works best and then scale up.” For example, for fats or spirits he hasn’t worked with before, Ward likes to start with 1 cup of spirit to 1/4 cup of fat and then scale up or down based on the flavors extracted from there.

James Hawkins, head bartender at the Sexy Fish Group explains you want to avoid cloudy oily spirits, so they don’t jeopardize the end result. “Melt the fat before combining it with the spirit for better dispersal of flavor and then freeze it,” he says. “The key is to make it as cold as possible to remove all lipids.” Hawkins says his team at Sexy Fish tend to use a coffee filter to take out all the fat particles before serving its Chocolate & Wine cocktail that is made with Sauternes wine fat-washed with Cacao Butter.

Will Fat-Washing Last?

Whether you’re a fan of this technique or not, fat-washing has been around for over 15 years, so it’s probably not going anywhere anytime soon. If it feels a bit too much to master at your home bar, we say leave there’s no shame in leaving it to the professionals.