When first I heard those words, my eyes lit up.

I like saying them. Let’s say them again.

Bacon-infused Bourbon.

I was first enlightened to that particular phrase last week when I came across a video on the New York Magazine website about a drink that, if it’s successful, might just have to become the new Offical Cocktail of the Fat Pack. It comes from bartender Don Lee of PDT (“Please Don’t Tell”) in New York, and as soon as I heard about it I thought it could very well have been created Just For Me.

It calls for a specialty ingredient, an infused Bourbon, which I made last night — finished just before I went to bed, in fact — but still haven’t tasted, as alcohol right before bed seems to exacerbate my snoring. Nobody wants that.

Oh, what kind of infusion, you’re wondering? Potentially The Perfect Infusion for me and mine — yes, let’s say it again … bacon-infused Bourbon.

Let’s watch him make it.

They do call specifically for Allan Benton’s bacon, which happens to be one of our very favorites and we frequently have it on hand, as we did this weekend. I cooked four slices in the oven, strained and reserved the fat, then Wes and I ate the bacon. I like this drink recipe already.

It follows the standard Old Fashioned recipe, for me going back to my childhood, just adding the infusion and substituting the syrup. Seems like a natural. Let’s make one.

Benton’s Old Fashioned
(by Don Lee, PDT, New York

2 ounces bacon-infused Bourbon.
1/4 ounce grade-B maple syrup.
2 dashes Angostura bitters.
Orange peel.

Combine with ice in a mixing glass, stir for no less than 30 seconds and strain into a chilled rocks glass over fresh ice. Express the orange oil from the peel over the glass, rub the rim with the peel and optionally garnish with the peel.

For the bacon-infused bourbon:

750ml Bourbon (we used Buffalo Trace).
1-2 ounces bacon fat, strained, from Allan Benton’s bacon or your own favorite bacon.

Add the bacon fat to the bourbon in a wide-mouthed jar, shake or stir vigorously and allow to steep for at least four hours, shaking or stirring periodically. After it’s infused for 4 hours place the jar in the freezer for two hours. Strain the bourbon through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the congealed fat.

Hmm … not bad. Very smoky, but not very porky, and a nice balance from the maple. I like it, but … my bacon-infusing technique needs work. Oddly enough, as much as I like Benton’s I think it might not be the right bacon for this, for my palate. I’d like to try this again with a bacon that’s less smoky and more porky, maybe a good jowl bacon or something. Grateful Palate and Bacon of the Month Club folks, here I come!

UPDATE: Later advice from Don and others taught that the bacon should be caramelized as much as possible to get the most flavorful fat — cook it in a cast-iron skillet underneath a bacon press. You can also use a bit more fat, and taste it as you go until you get your preferred level of smoke and porkiness.

We love bacon-infused Bourbon, and after Wes got inspired one night we learned that it makes excellent Manhattans too. Use Carpano Antica.

Tales of the Cocktail approaches, and it’s been decided. The official cocktail of this year’s Tales is the Punch and Judy, by Charlotte Voisey. It is indeed a punch too, which is great and which will no doubt delight punchmeister David Wondrich!

Punch and Judy
(by Charlotte Voisey)

1 ounce Martell VSOP Cognac.
1/4 ounce Old New Orleans Crystal Rum.
1/2 ounce Hendrick’s Gin.
1/2 ounce Bols Orange Curaçao.
2 ounces pineapple juice.
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice.
1/2 ounce fresh orange juice.
1/2 ounce agave nectar.
2 dashes Angostura Bitters.
4 mint leaves.

Assemble ingredients in a mixing glass with as much love and interest that is healthy (that is to say, not in a obsessive fashion but certainly passionate) – no need to muddle the mint, just throw it in – shake properly (hard) and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass.

Cut a thinly sliced lime wheel and place on top of the Punch and Judy; add a hearty sprinkle of ground nutmeg directly on the lime wheel fresh from the “nut” with a small grater, instead of using already ground nutmeg from a small shaker.

Oh, and as you can tell, the contest asked that one use as many of the sponsors’ products as possible. No worries, though … alll that stuff’s mighty good.

Sorry, I know I haven’t done this in a while. Out of town, busy with all kindsa stuff and posting New Orleans food porn (and yeah, I know, it’s been three weeks and I’m only just gettin’ started). Let’s have a drink.

This one hails from Saratoga Springs, New York in the 1880s. According to David Wondrich’s Imbibe!, there were two cocktails by this name, one being basically “a Fancy Brandy Cocktail with a squirt of Champagne,” the other being this, similar to a Manhattan in which half the rye has been switched out. It’s mighty tasty.

Oh, and when we made it the rye was Rittenhouse Bonded, the brandy was Hennessy VSOP, the vermouth was Carpano Antica.

The Saratoga Cocktail

1 ounce rye whiskey.
1 ounce brandy.
1 ounce sweet vermouth.
2 dashes Angostura Bitters.

Combine with ice in a mixing glass and stir for no less than 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass or, as the book suggests, “a thin stemmed glass with a curved lip.” Garnish with a quarter slice of lemon, either perched on the rim or floated in the drink.

“Replace the vermouth with absinthe,” Dave says, “and you have what the Hoffman House called a ‘Morning Cocktail.’ If that’s what you need to get going in the A.M., God help you.”

Ooh, I did manage to get a post written last night after all. A perfectly appropriate one here too, although unfortunately I’m not going to get to breakfast on this drink quite yet. This one appeared in the April ’08 issue of New Orleans magazine, created just for them by the wonderful bartender H. Joseph Ehrmann, owner of the wonderful bar Elixir in San Francisco. He puts a wonderful Caribbean spin on a venerable New Orleans breakfast classic.

A Milk Punch Named Desire

1-1/2 ounces Rhum Clément VSOP.
1-1/2 ounces Rhum Clément Créole Shrubb.
1/2 ounce Navan Vanilla Liqueur.
3-4 ounces whole milk or half-and-half.
Nutmeg.

Combine liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker with a few large ice cubes. Shake vigorously for at least half a minute, in order to build up a nice froth. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over fresh ice, and garnish with a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Oh my. H., this is delicious.

You’ll have fun, you’ll have fun, every day of the week!

This Cocktail of the Day sends me into a huge nostalgic rush, and I never even got to taste it it its heyday.

Those of you who are New Orleanians of A Certain Age will fondly remember Pontchartrain Beach, our beloved local amusement park. Built in 1928 and retaining many of its Art Deco design touches until it was demolished (*sob!*) in 1983, I grew up going there many times every summer, and it was part of my childhood.

One of the more popular attractions at The Beach wasn’t a ride, it was a fabulous resteaurant, New Orleans’ own version of the faux-Polynesian “Tiki” food and drink craze which swept the nation after the immense popularity of Don the Beachcomber’s and Trader Vic’s — Bali Ha’i at The Beach. It opened around 1952 and closed with the park in 1982 … and I never got to go there.

When I was a kid my parents took me to The Beach all the time, but never to Bali Ha’i (I guess they weren’t into Tiki cuisine and rarely if ever drank tropical drinks), and by the time I was old enough to drink I took the Beach for granted, and only went there a couple of times when I was in college. Had I known then what I know now, I would have gone every week.

Recently the Times-Picayune came across a drink recipe from Bali H’ai, which a reader obtained from the family who used to cook there (they later opened their own Chinese restaurnat in Kenner after Bali H’ai closed). It’s their own interpretation of a venerable tropical classic.

The Bali Ha’i Fog Cutter
(from the late, lamented Bali Ha’i Restaurant, Pontchartrain Beach, New Orleans)

8 ounces orange juice.
6 ounces lime juice.
6 ounces simple syrup.
4 ounces light rum.
4 ounces dark rum.
4 ounces brandy.
4 ounces gin.
1/4 ounce almond extract.

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher. Serve in tiki glasses or tall glasses.

Makes 4 (or more) drinks.

Of course, they other key to authenticity in this drink is to serve it in the proper vessel …

(Are you kidding me? That stays in the display cabinet! One of my regular tiki mugs will have to do.)

I now also own a menu from Bali Ha’i from the ’60s, which has become a treasured possession.

Let’s all sing …. “Baaaali Haaaaaaaaaaaiiiiii …”