You’ve heard of going for dinner and drinks, but what about going for dinner in drinks? The latest trend in the world of mixology is creating handcrafted cocktails featuring carnivorous bites. Want to try the trend for yourself? Here are Epicure & Culture’s top picks. And if you feel like staying in but are still craving meat and liquor, become a bartender and try one of the tasty recipes. Above photo credit: Prosciutto and Mozzarella. Image via parisassoc.
Prosciutto-Dusted Decadence
Beverage Director Jeremy Back at Caulfield’s Bar & Dining Room in Beverly Hills offers the Bar & Dining Room cocktail made with Maestro Dobel, a fig shrub, with cracked black pepper foam and finished with prosciutto dust.
Candied Bacon Maker
At Charles Court at 5-Star, 5-Diamond Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs, Bartender Kirsten Schopen serves up a Candied Bacon Maker with bacon-infused Makers Mark, maple syrup, lemon juice and Applekorn Liquor, topped with a candied bacon slice and lemon twist garnish.
Recipe
by Kirsten Schopen – Charles Court
Ingredients:
2 ounces Bacon infused Makers Mark
1ounce Pure Maple Syrup
½ ounce Lemon Juice
½ ounce Applekorn Liquor
Par cook one slice applewook smoked bacon in oven at 425 degrees.
Dust bacon with sugar and reduce temperature to 375 so the sugar dissolves and melts into a candy coating on the bacon slice.
Mix all of the liquid ingredients in a shaker with plenty of ice.
Shake vigorously and pour into a rocks glass.
Garnish with Candied Bacon Slice and Lemon Twist
Duck Duck Duck Cocktail
At Chicago’s Storefront Company, Chef Bryan Moscatello serves up a Duck Duck Duck cocktail at brunch. This meaty delight is made with a blend of Monkey Shoulder scotch, kumquat syrup, Creole bitters and a skewer garnish featuring candied kumquat, duck confit, duck prosciutto and a deviled duck heart, finished with a lemon twist.
Recipe:
By Chef Bryan Moscatello
Ingredients:
2 oz. monkey shoulder scotch
1/2 oz. kumquat syrup
2 dash creole bitters
1 ea. skewer with candied kumquat, duck confit, duck prosciutto and deviled heart
1 ea. lemon peel
Stir the scotch, bitters and syrup over ice until very cold. Strain into a chilled double bucket. Twist lemon over drink and disregard the peel then place skewer across the glass.
El Vaquero
In Oakland, California, Bocanova’s Bar Manager Stella Davies has crafted the El Vaquero cocktail with pisco, smoked paprika, beef bouillon, burlesque bitters and barolo chinato, garnished with beef jerky.
The Triple B
At retro-inspired The Original Dinerant in Portland, Pastry Chef Sally Bowers worked with the restaurant bar’s staff to create a “boozy shake”, The Triple B, which gets its name from its blend of bourbon bacon maple syrup, vanilla ice cream and bourbon, topped with a piece of candied bacon and whipped cream.
Ingredients:
3 Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
1 oz. Maple Bacon Syrup
1.5 oz of bourbon
Blend 3 scoops of vanilla bean ice cream, 1 ounce of maple bacon syrup, (1 part bacon fat to 3 parts good maple syrup) and a shot of bourbon. Top with whipped cream and a piece of applewood smoked bacon.
Bay of Pigs
Also in Portland, Cuban restaurant, Urban Farmer offers the Bay of Pigs, a hot cocktail made with Bacardi 8 year rum, Calisaya, maple syrup, fresh cinnamon, coffee and frothed milk, garnished with bacon.
Recipe:
Ingredients
1½ oz Bacardi 8 Year Rum
½ oz Calisaya
½ oz Maple Syrup
½ oz fresh ground cinnamon
3 oz fresh brewed coffee
1 to 2oz fresh whipped cream
1 piece candied bacon
Combine rum, calisaya, maple syrup, cinnamon and coffee. Warm with milk frother or warm on stove in saucepot. Pour into coffee glass. Top with fresh whipped cream and candied bacon.
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
