This is a failed recipe. Specifically, the final infused spirit’s flavor was too subtle, off, bitter, or just not right. The steps outlined below document what did not work, and are presented as record of what should not be repeated in an effort to find the best recipe for each fruit, vegetable, meat, or dairy.
This recipe is presented in the old format. Considering it was a failure, it’s unlikely I’ll re-post using the new structure.
Quick Note on this Recipe: This recipe is attempt #1 in a series of experiments to make the best tasting bacon infused vodka possible. The steps contained in this recipe did not produce a worthy final product. For the best tasting final recipe, follow this link. Thanks! -Scott
Failed Attempt #1, Rendered Fat Wash Method
Failed Attempt #2, Deglaze Fat Wash Method
For attempt #1 and #2, I concluded that while my final bacon tasted good, I may have over cooked it some. It wasn’t burnt everywhere, but some spots were definitely cooked more than others, and even a little bit of bitter char can ruin the whole mix. One of the simple rules of this game, like distilling, is “junk in = junk out”. I need to start with the best bacon flavor possible to get the best bacon infusion possible. Since my attempt at cooking the raw bacon failed, I decided to take a different route all together, and begin with bacon that is already cooked. I am a big believer in the theory that it doesn’t matter what you used to get to a great final product, so long as that final product is great. So, attempt #3 called for some bacon that I know already tastes good. Yes, bacon pieces in a bag. These are not soy based Bacos, but actual real bacon pieces packed with preservatives so that they don’t need to be refrigerated. Yum? Maybe on a salad, but not in an infusion. Lesson #3 in this quest for a bacon flavored spirit, don’t use bacon pieces.
Since my first attempts were failures, I opted this time to make my infusion in a smaller jar. That way, if it’s terrible, I’m not wasting good High Proof Spirit. 30 g of bacon bits were added to 91 g (4oz) of High Proof Spirit, and sealed to infuse in a 8 oz mason jar.
After 24 hours of infusing, and a couple shakes later, the spirit has taken on a nice brown color. This is a positive sign…but the flavor is what really matters. Ignore the date on the little sign next to my little jar, I’m working on clearing my backlog of infusions, and this is one of my last from Nov :). The infused spirit is separated from the bacon pieces using a fine mesh strainer. The pieces really haven’t changed form much, though their smokey salty flavor has been released to the HPS.
Since I was eager to taste this version, and because I had significantly less fat in the mix than before, I decided to skip the coffee filtration and use as is. The final weight of the infused spirit was 82g (or 3.5 fl oz). This is a loss of 9g of spirit (or 1/2 fl oz). Assuming that 100% of the loss was alcohol, this gives us a final ABV of: 78.84% . Now time to taste it. To get to vodka strength, the infused spirit was diluted with a 1:1 ratio using some water from a Brita pitcher. The flavor was of bacon, but not pleasant. It just wasn’t good. No problem, cause I have an idea of where to go next….the oven…
