// BY A ARON GOLDFARB //9
T
HERE’S A PHASE COL-
lege students go through
where they decide cheap,
clear liquor needs an
upgrade. But what, really,
can an aspiring dorm-
room mixologist do with
a non-discerning palate, limited
funds, and not enough time? Ah
yes. Infuse. Just throw Skittles
or frozen blueberries or any other
easily accessible sweet accoutre-
ment into the plastic handle and
wait. The resulting concoction
is probably awful. It will be con-
sumed anyway.
Don’t be ashamed if you went
through that phase. You may now
have disposable income to buy fan-
cier bottles, but that does not mean
you should quash that adventurous
spirit—you know, the same one
that drove you to throw Pop Rocks
into Smirnoff. Harness that desire
to meddle with your liquor cabinet
and you can create some truly wild
and delicious drinks. With the
proper guidance, of course.
The best way to start your adult
infusing journey is with whiskey,
a complex and resilient spirit that
pairs so well with equally bold,
complex f lavors like, say, meat.
But don’t just drop some ground
round into a bottle of Jim Beam
and call it a day. To infuse whiskey
with more ambitious foodstuff,
you’re going to need to learn aTrust Us,
Infusing
Whiskey Is
Delicious
1234(1) Use kitchen shears to
cut the bacon strips into
¾-inch pieces. Cook over
low to medium-low heat
until all the fat has been
released and the bacon is
fully crisped. Remove the
bacon and try to filter out
the little bacon bits that
have been left behind. (As
anyone too lazy to clean
the morning’s bacon skillet
knows, bacon fat will even-
tually solidify. Once it does,
you can store it almost
indefinitely.) (2) Combine
about 1½ ounces warm
bacon fat with the bour-bon in a mixing glass or a
stainless-steel container
and stir until it dissolves.
(3) Allow the mixture to
infuse, uncovered, at room
temperature for about 4
hours, then cover and place
in the freezer for 2 more
hours. The fat will have
risen to the top. (4) Skim
that off and strain the rest
of the bourbon through a
cheesecloth. You will have
lost a few ounces, so the
yield should be about 24
ounces. Funnel it back into
the bourbon bottle and
explicitly relabel it.THE WHISKEY
750-millimeter bottle
of Four Roses (Yellow
Label) Bourbon
THE FAT
4 to 6 strips of hickory-
smoked baconTWO (MOSTLY)
FOOLPROOF FAT
WASHES TO GET
YOU STARTED
32 December 2019 PHOTOGRAPHY BY LAKOTA GAMBILL