Fat-washing is one of the best ways to infuse a spirit with a particular flavor. You can attest to this if you’ve ever had a bacon Old Fashioned, and the best spicy Margarita of all time is made with tequila that’s been fat-washed with chili crisp. It’s not a difficult technique to master — you just need the proper tools and ingredients.

I recently infused whiskey with leftover Wagyu fat, and the results were phenomenal. It got me thinking about what other fats I could try when infusing whiskey, so I asked three experts to share their favorite fat-washed whiskeys and the cocktails to make with them.

Duck Fat

Duck fat is one of my favorite fats. I always have a jar of it in the fridge, at-the-ready when I want to roast potatoes or dress up an otherwise boring bowl of popcorn. But I’d never really thought about fat-washing with it. According to Allie Phifer, bartender of Current Charcoal Grill, duck fat is a perfect match for rye.

“Rye naturally has her spiced and peppery personality, which becomes a rich and savory experience when paired with rendered duck fat,” Phifer says. “In the Peking Order, the duck fat used to wash the rye whiskey comes from Gerbawitz duck that’s dry-aged for seven days before being marinated. The bold and spicier character in rye enveloped by the rich and tender flavor of duck are perfect to stand up in a Boulevardier.”

Peking Order

Servings: 1

Ingredients

750 ml. Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
1.5 oz. rendered duck fat
1 oz. duck fat-washed Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey (recipe below)
.75 oz. Campari
.75 oz. sweet vermouth
Lemon twist, for garnish

Directions

For the duck fat-washed rye:
1. Mix rye and duck fat in a freezer-safe glass container. Allow the mixture to infuse at room temperature for 12 hours, then transfer it to the freezer overnight.
2. By morning, solidified fat will appear on the surface. Strain the rye using a chinois or cheesecloth, then seal it for future use.
For the cocktail:
1. Chill a Nick and Nora glass by placing it in the freezer or putting ice into the glass.
2. Stir the duck fat-washed rye, Campari and sweet vermouth in a mixing glass until chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into the chilled Nick and Nora glass (make sure you dump the ice out if you’re not using the freezer).
3. Express a lemon twist over the top, wipe around the rim and place in the drink to garnish.

The Dos and Don’ts of Making Clarified Cocktails

Some simple alchemy can render your drinks nearly clear and fairly crisp. Herein, a guide to making clarified cocktails at home.

Lechón (aka Suckling Pig) Fat

Roast pig is one of my all-time favorite dishes. The crispy skin, the crunchy ears, the succulent meat — it really doesn’t get better than that. Of course, all that fat is like liquid gold, which the bar team at Naks does not let go to waste when the kitchen has some to spare.

“The Ambaboy is inspired by chef Eric Valdez’s lechón, the iconic Filipino dish that involves slow roasting pig that he prepares daily at Naks,” says Unapologetic Foods Beverage Director Mike Reed. “Pork and whiskey are a solid combo; therefore, we decided to use bourbon.”

If you don’t have suckling pig fat handy, another type of rendered pork fat will do.

Ambaboy

Servings: 1

Ingredients

1 bottle Nonino Quintessentia Amaro
2.5 oz. lemongrass, thinly sliced
26 oz. straight bourbon whiskey
1.5 grams rendered pork fat
6 dashes whiskey barrel-aged bitters
.5 oz. burnt sugar syrup
.25 oz. Giffard Banane du Bresil
.25 oz. Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
.25 oz. Lustau Oloroso Sherry
.5 oz. lemongrass-infused Amaro Nonino (recipe below)
.5 oz. lechón fat-washed bourbon (recipe below)
1 oz. Tanduay Dark Rum
Ti leaf square, for garnish
Pork floss, for garnish

Directions

For the lemongrass-infused Nonino:
1. Combine lemongrass and Nonino in a bowl. Whisk to agitate. Rest at room temperature for 48 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove lemongrass. Return to the bottle.
For the lechón fat-washed bourbon:
1. In a small saucepan, heat the fat to liquefy. Combine 26 oz. of bourbon and liquefied fat in a bowl, and whisk to emulsify. Rest at room temperature for 24 hours.
2. Transfer the mixture to a freezer and rest until the fat has solidified. Strain mixture through a chinois to remove fat. Strain liquid through a strainer lined with a damp, thin cloth towel or linen napkin to clarify. Return to the bottle.
For the cocktail:
1. Add the sugar syrup, Giffard Banane du Bresil, Lagavulin, sherry, lemongrass-infused Nonino, fat-washed bourbon and rum in a rocks glass with a large cube. Stir to combine. Garnish with a ti leaf and pork floss, if desired.

Peanut Butter

Let’s step away from animal fats and talk about one of my favorite things in this world: peanut butter. Yes, there are some peanut butter whiskeys on the market, but they’re overly sweet and probably full of unnatural things. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to make your own.

“We tested around 12 different fats and fatty ingredients during our research for Cocktails Illustrated — everything from chicken fat to tahini to virgin coconut oil,” says Joe Gitter, senior editor on the America’s Test Kitchen books team. “Peanut butter delivered the most astonishing flavor, and there are a couple reasons why. First, good peanut butter has an intense, concentrated flavor that’s strong enough to come through in the final cocktail. Second, unlike pure fats, peanut butter contains amino acids and other flavorful compounds that ethanol can extract. Alcohol is uniquely effective as a solvent because it has both polar and nonpolar properties, meaning it can pull the entire spectrum of available flavors into the spirit.”

Because peanut butter is a paste rather than a liquid fat, it takes a little more care to use it as a fat-wash. Gitter has some tips. “The key is maximizing surface area,” he says. “Smear the peanut butter in a thin layer around the inside bottom half of a mason jar. Then add the bourbon and gently swirl, never shake. Shaking can create an emulsion that’s impossible to separate, which reduces your final yield. And don’t toss the bourbon-infused peanut butter — scrape it out of the jar and use it to make bourbon-peanut butter cookies.”

PBJ

Servings: 1

Ingredients

3 oz. peanut butter
10 oz. bourbon
.25 cup finely-ground freeze-dried berries (optional)
2 oz. peanut butter–washed bourbon (recipe below)
.25 oz. berry liqueur (like Chambord or crème de mûre)
1 tsp. simple syrup

Directions

For the peanut butter fat-washed bourbon:
1. Smear the inside of the bottom half of a 16-ounce Mason jar with the peanut butter. Add the 10 ounces of bourbon. Seal jar tightly and swirl gently. Avoid shaking mixture, which could cause it to emulsify and prevent it from properly straining.
2. Stand the jar upright and let sit for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours, gently swirling the jar occasionally. Transfer jar to freezer and freeze in the same position until fat solidifies, 1 to 3 hours.
3. Set a paper coffee filter in a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Strain mixture, then transfer spirit to a clean 16-ounce Mason jar. Refrigerate fat-washed liquor for up to 3 months. (Liquor will keep indefinitely, but flavor will start to diminish.)
For the cocktail:
1. Spread ground berries, if using, into an even layer on a small saucer. Dip the rim of a rocks glass in another saucer of water. Roll the rim of the glass in the berries to coat, removing any excess granules that fall into the glass.
2. Add bourbon, berry liqueur and simple syrup to a mixing glass, then fill three-quarters full with ice. Using a barspoon, stir until mixture is just combined and chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into the prepared glass over a large ice cube.

Meet your guide

Amanda Gabriele

Amanda is InsideHook’s Senior Editor and has been writing about food, drinks, travel and style for 16 years. She’s written for Travel + Leisure, Eater, Gear Patrol and New York Magazine among other outlets.