Skip to main content

Pro tip: Adding butter to your fall cocktails will elevate your drink game

Strange as it sounds, butter belongs in your drink — Here are some delicious recipes to get started

Butter makes everything better. That’s even the case for cocktails, which could use the extra weight as we transition into cooler weather and need some slightly heavier drinks for fall. Thanks to fat washing, you can do just that.

We spoke to Stuart Weaver, a bartender and general manager at Lady Jane in Denver, for some advice on the subject. He says the benefits of incorporating butter into a drink are many, and you can do so without the fatty or oily mess. Here’s what he has to say about it, along with his recipe suggestions to really get the most out of your fall cocktails.

The Dirty Little Secret cocktail.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Butter in a cocktail? Seriously? Why?

“If you see the word ‘butter’ on a cocktail menu, that usually raises an eyebrow, but once we explain the process and encourage them to try it, they are usually pleasantly surprised,” Weaver says of his bar patrons. “Our guests are extremely fun and adventurous and come to Lady Jane to try new things, so it’s never a struggle to present bold concepts. I am very grateful for this; it also means that we have to continue to impress. But honestly, we love it.”

Weaver says butter has been finding its way into cocktails for ages, and he recalls fat washing being a thing for as long as he can remember. He credits former PDT bartender Don Lee with popularizing the technique with his Benton’s Old Fashioned in 2008. “As bartenders continue to push the boundaries of their creativity, more flavors and ingredients are being utilized, and more techniques are being developed! It’s really an exciting time in the world of bartending,” Weaver says.

Fat washing in particular can do some pretty remarkable things to a drink. “It incorporates the flavor into the booze while also imparting a silky and weighty mouthfeel, but [it’s] not grimy,” he says. “I have also noticed that it helps round out flavors and mellow the cocktail to help with balance.”

It’s a process that Weaver says you tend to see on menus more often in the colder months, but it can be adapted to all seasons. The drink pictured above, for example, is one he serves in the spring. It’s called the Dirty Little Secret and utilizes fat-washed gin, olive oil, vermouth, and more. Lady Jane recently had another drink featured called Dad Jokes, inspired by elote (aka Mexican street corn).

“To get that rich and silky texture for the cocktail, we incorporated butter utilizing this fat-washing technique,” Weaver says. “It may sound intimidating, but it is actually super easy and a great way to add a layer of complexity to a multitude of cocktails. You simply heat up your fat of choice (butter, oil, etc.), mix that into a bottle of booze, shake it up and let it sit for a little while, and then throw it in the freezer. The fat will freeze and form a hard layer on top of the booze (which won’t freeze) that you just pop off. Shazam! Bar magic!”

Ready to give butter a go? Weaver set us up with a few great recipes to try some of these techniques out with next time you make some fall drinks for your guests. Cheers!

An Old Fashioned whiskey cocktail at a bar.

Bacon Old Fashioned

Here’s an Old Fashioned that Ron Swanson would approve of.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces bacon-fat-infused bourbon*
  • 1/4 ounce maple syrup (grade B)
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • Orange peel for garnish

Method

  1. Stir and strain all ingredients over large ice cube in a double old fashioned glass.
  2. Garnish with orange peel.

*Bacon-fat-infused bourbon: Remove two ounces of bacon fat. On low heat, warm bacon fat in a small saucepan. Stir until it melts, about five minutes. Combine fat and 750 ml of bourbon in a nonreactive container (do not pour back into the bottle) and stir or shake to combine. Let the mixture come to room temperature for an hour, then place in the freezer overnight. Strain bourbon through cheesecloth or a coffee filter and bottle. Keep refrigerated. Will last for up to one month.

rum cocktails

Coconut Bombo

Combining a special infusion and an easy-to-make syrup, this cocktail is endlessly tropical.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces coconut-oil-infused aged rum*
  • 1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup*
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Orange peel for garnish

Method

  1. Stir and strain all ingredients over large ice cube in a double old fashioned glass.
  2. Garnish with orange peel.

*Coconut-oil-infused aged rum: On low heat, warm 4 oz of raw coconut oil in a small saucepan. Stir until it melts, about five minutes. Combine oil and 750 ml of aged rum in a nonreactive container (do not pour back into the bottle) and stir or shake to combine. Let the mixture come to room temperature for an hour, then place in the freezer overnight. Strain rum through cheesecloth or a coffee filter and bottle. Keep refrigerated. Will last for up to one month.

*Cinnamon syrup: Toast four cinnamon sticks in a small pot over medium heat, taking care not to burn them. Combine 550 grams of white sugar and 550 grams of water in the pot over medium heat. Stir continually until sugar dissolves. Bring to a low simmer and then let simmer for two minutes. Let come to room temperature for one hour, then strain out cinnamon sticks and refrigerate. Can be refrigerated for up to one month.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Bee’s Knees, French 75, and more: Fall for these 9 iconic Prohibition cocktails from the Roaring ’20s
The 1920s delivered some of the best cocktails to date. Here are some you can make at home
The Bee’s Knees placed on a counter with a shadow

While it's fair to say we're living in another golden age for cocktails, the original golden age happened a century ago. Thanks to Prohibition, the 1920s saw tons of innovative bartending, leading to some of the best recipes that any cocktail book has ever documented. In haunts all across the land, industry leaders found clever ways to circumvent the anti-booze system, drumming up some damn fine drinks in the process.

Yes, the Roaring '20s certainly lived up to its name. From incredible fashion to some of the best gin cocktails of all time, it was a decade of style, sipping, and sticking it to the man. Bars had to be sneaky, and in doing so, they created not just an underground community but an entire industry of devotees working illicitly to show the world just how important cocktail culture is to modern society.

Read more
Your new favorite winter cocktail is red wine…hot chocolate?
Happily survive the rest of winter with this surprisingly rich and indulgent cocktail
Hot chocolate

The holidays are over, and now we settle in for the long, dark, cold days of winter without the jolly sparkle of holiday festivities to get us through. For many, this is a time of reflection, of resolution, of beginning healthy habits and organizing our lives both inwardly and out. But for others (us), it's time to settle in under a warm blanket in a bear-like hibernation that includes baked goods and cocktails. And while we're looking forward to margaritas and fruity daquiries, something about a tropical cocktail doesn't yet feel quite right. We need a winter cocktail. One that warms us to our bones and fills our minds and bodies with happiness and peace. Enter red wine hot chocolate.

We realize that this concoction sounds a bit bizarre at first. But when one pauses and thinks about the flavors, red wine hot chocolate makes perfect sense. After all, is there any better pairing in the culinary world than that of wine and chocolate? Of course not. So why not blend them together for a beautifully rich, perfectly fruity, warm, comforting, indulgent winter cocktail?

Read more
It Follows, The Boondock Saints, and more: The 12 best movie drinking games to play while watching the films
Spice up movie night with fun drinking games
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Watching something can be a great way to stave off the boredom that everyone faces from time to time. Whether it's a great show or movie available on Netflix or Amazon Prime, streaming services have ensured that we'll always have something to watch. Just having something to watch often isn't enough, though. In fact, what some people need is a game that goes alongside the latest thing that's streaming, which is why we've developed this list of fun drinking games that are perfect for Amazon Prime or Netflix subscribers.

You don't need to follow along with these games to get to a good drinking game with anything you're watching. What you might find, though, is that these movie drinking games have been carefully calibrated to ensure that you have as much fun as possible. Once you see a game that looks like fun, just grab a case of cheap beer or whatever your preferred drink might be and get started. You can also check out our guides for board games and card-drinking games if you're looking for a drinking game that doesn't involve a screen at all.

Read more