All About Fat Washing
Fat washing is a fairly simple way of making your cocktails more interesting and a way of adding more dimension in the form of both texture and flavor. Fat washing adds a decadent richness to any cocktail as well as the flavor of whatever fat you chose to use. As far as fats go you can essentially use anything you want from peanut butter, almond butter (any peanut butter alternative), coconut oil, bacon lard, sesame oil, avocado oil, normal butter, caramelized or browned butter, it’s up to you. in more detail, this is just the quick and dirty version.
The type of fat you choose is dependent on what you are trying to achieve by doing this, do you want a certain flavor? Or is it more about the texture?
Before you start fat washing anything think about how strong the flavor is, for fats like bacon lard, peanut butter, or sesame oil the flavors are quite strong so take that into consideration when you are fat washing. For flavors like these I tend to reduce the fat to spirit ratio, it takes a bit of playing around with to find the ratio that you like the best. When using fats like bacon lard or peanut butter the flavors tend to be very prominent so you need to pair it with something that can “stand up” to them so ensure that you have an idea as to what you want to pair with your fat washed spirit. On the oil side of things, I find coconut oil does add a really light beautiful coconut aroma to the spirit, whereas avocado oil and olive oil adds less flavor but still gives you the very silky luxurious texture you expect from fat washing.
Enough talking about fat washing and more discussion on how you actually do it:
For the majority of these fats, the ratio and method are the same, however, I have listed a few others down below that differ in ratio or method or both. These are the ratios that I have found work but please tweak them as you see fit for what you are making!
Ingredients
1/2 Cup Fat
1 Cup Spirit
Method
If your fat is a solid at room temperature like coconut oil is you will need to melt it, you can do this in the microwave or on the stove. For other oils like olive oil, you can skip straight to this step. Pour your fat and spirit of choice into a large Tupperware container and give it a good shake or stir. You do not want to add the fat into your spirit bottle at this step because it makes it harder to get the fat out later (trust me). Set aside your fat mixture for at least 30 minutes then transfer it to the fridge so the fat firms up. After an hour the fat should have floated to the top and formed a hard layer, break this into pieces, and remove. Once all the fat has been taken out you can run the spirit through a coffee filter if there are any remaining fat chunks or sediment. I don’t usually find I need to strain or filter the spirit; it is up to you.
Bacon Fat
Salt content is also something to take into consideration, I find saltiness comes out when fat washing spirits so if possible, I suggest using low sodium options.
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Fat
1 Cup Spirit
Method
If your fat is a solid at room temperature like bacon fat is you will need to melt it, you can do this in the microwave or the stove. After the lard is melted, I like to pass it through a fine strainer just to take out any residual pieces of bacon or burnt bits. Once everything is strained out, pour your fat and spirit of choice into a large Tupperware container. You do not want to add the fat into your spirit bottle at this step because it makes it harder to get the fat out later (trust me). Shake your spirit and fat mixture and set aside for about 30 minutes then transfer it to the fridge so the fat firms up. After an hour the fat should have floated to the top and formed a hard layer, break this into pieces, and remove. Once all the fat has been taken out you can run the spirit through a coffee filter if there are any remaining fat chunks or sediment.
Nut Butter
Salt content is also something to take into consideration, I find saltiness comes out when fat washing spirits so if possible, I suggest using low sodium options.
Ingredients
1 Cup Nut Butter
1 Cup Spirit
Method
Nut butter is slightly different from other fats in that they are not solid at room temperature or after being refrigerated and therefore won’t form that hard layer of fat on top of the spirit that makes it easy to remove. So, this technique requires a glass casserole dish and a bit more time. If you are using an all-natural nut butter drain off all the oil that sits on top and just use the underneath layers. Spread a thick layer of the nut butter on the bottom of the casserole dish, I find for this method measurements don’t matter as much so measure the nut butter with your heart. Once you have a layer of nut butter pour over your spirit of choice and tightly cover it with plastic wrap or a lid if you have one and let it rest for 2 days. Once your spirit has rested for two days strain it through a coffee filter to remove any sediment and pour back into the bottle for immediate or later use.
The nut butter can be saved and added to anything that you don’t mind a bit of an alcoholic kick in, I highly recommend making chocolate chip cookies with the boozy nut butter to pair with your new cocktail.
Brown Butter
Ingredients
1/2cup unsalted butter
1 cup spirit
Vanilla and spices (optional, but delicious)
Method
Take your butter and heat it in a pan over medium-high heat, once it is completely melted continuously stir it. Eventually, you will notice the butter going more caramel in color which is exactly what you want. This process happens quite quickly now so keep an eye on it, once the mixture reaches a rich dark caramel color immediately remove it from the heat and pour the butter into a tub and add the spirit. This will stop the butter from continuing to cook and burn. At this stage, you can add other flavorings such as vanilla or various spices depending on what flavor profile you are going for. Put the lid on the tub and give it a shake, leave this mixture at room temperature for at least 30 minutes then transfer it to the fridge to form the hard layer of fat. Once the layer of fat forms on top of the spirit remove it and pass the spirit through a coffee filter to remove any brown butter sediment.
The brown butter can be used for a number of different things. I mix mine with a little bit of honey, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice to spread on pumpkin or banana bread. You could also add some sage to it and make a beautiful sage brown butter sauce for pasta. The possibilities are endless.
