Vegetable oils in cocktails

[Dave the Cook]

Last night I was lucky enough to have a couple of drinks at Restaurant Eugene. I asked bar manager Nick Hearin to make me something. "Fun or serious?" he asked. Fun. "Bubbly or not?" Sure, bubbly.

He pulled a bottle of viscous maroon out of the fridge. "Grenadine?" I queried. No, strained cognac from marinating cherries. From another cooler, he removed a bottle of Gruet, and from the shelf behind him, something whose label he obscured with his hand. He poured them simultaneously into the flute, the former in greater proportion. He set the glass onto my napkin, announcing "The PBJ."

The aroma was unmistakable. Sure enough, he removed his hand from the mystery bottle: unrefined peanut oil.

The drink was delicious, too. Another cocktail on the menu was "The Undeniable Truth": Leopold Bros. Gin, NP vermouth, extra-virgin olive oil. I didn't get a chance to try it.

Anyone else working with oils?

[daisy17]

How much oil are we talking about?

[Dave the Cook]

Contrary to his usual methods, Nick freepoured it. It was probably a 5-ounce flute, so I'd guess maybe 3/4 ounce of the cherry, 1/2 ounce oil, 3-1/2 of sparkling wine. The bubbles in the wine made a mighty effort of holding the oil in suspension, but after about five minutes, it separated. Still, the drink never felt or tasted oily.

[daisy17]

I don't doubt that it tasted good, but i'm a little skeeved out by it! (Also, do I want extra fat/calories from oil in a cocktail? I think I'd rather eat a brownie.)

Regardless, it's interesting, I'll try anything once.

[slkinsey]

I've thought of using oils before, but in significantly smaller quantities than a half-ounce! Ultimately, if I were going to make a "PBJ" cocktail or something like that, I'd be likely to either fat-wash roasted peanut oil into some booze, or make a roasted peanut "orgeat." Another possibility would be misting some oil onto the top of the drink, but I think it would be difficult to get it on there in an amount that wouldn't tend to leave a greasy mouthfeel.

[Dave the Cook]

I'm guessing at the amount, Sam; it could easily have been less. Regardless, as I said, there was no greasy texture or taste. Rather than theorize about some other method, why not try it?

[RoyalSwagger]

Hmm... I've made a drink called the Peanut Bourbon & Jelly using just as Kinsey said a peanut oil fat washed bourbon and grape jelly with lemon juice but, the idea of straight oil, interesting though I don't think I'll be putting that into any of my cocktails anytime soon, I wouldn't mind somebody making something for me along those lines. Very interesting!

[Scott Koue]

I read about a cocktail where they had used bacon (they didn't use the term fat wash but that is what I think your talking about, chilling down the booze till the fat turns solid so you end up with flavor but not much oil). Anyway I thought I would try toasted sesame oil (it always reminds me of bacon). I just dipped the end of a swizzle stick in and swirled it around in a martini. I liked the taste but it did coat the tung a bit with the oil. Might try the "fat washing".

Cheers

SK

[davicus]

I've been doing this with Le Tourangelle oils, but the general consensus is the resulting liquor is too oily. I've had better results with the fat wash method, using butter or crisco.

I posted in the nut infusions topic in greater detail, if looking for specifics.

Edited April 29, 2009 by davicus (log)