I recently received an email promoting a recipe for a BLT Cocktail created by mixologist Brent Jones of Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado. It’s timely for me to share this with you because Chef Dustan Bristol of Brick 29 in Nampa, Idaho has also been experimenting with making his own BLT Cocktail to serve at our Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour event two weeks from tomorrow.
The thing that Jones and Bristol are doing that is a departure from most bacon/tomato cocktails being served around the country is they aren’t just creating a variation on a bloody mary. Instead, they’ve created a refreshing, summer cocktail made from the juice of fresh tomatoes.
Below is the recipe for Brent Jones’ BLT Cocktail. He makes his own bacon fat washed vodka, but if you don’t have the time or energy to make your own bacon vodka, you can also just pick up a bottle of Bakon Vodka (which will also be featured at our event in Nampa on August 1).
Click here to purchase tickets for the Blue Ribbon Bacon Tour event in Nampa, Idaho on August 1 if you haven’t already and hope to see you there!
The BLT Cocktail
“The BLT is one of those cocktails that has a very different and unusual response amongst its tasters. More often than not I hear the same reactions “wow, I did not expect that”. The combination of flavors is reminiscent of the very thing that influenced its creation: the Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato sandwich. One evening while tending the bar at The Library in the Hotel Jerome, Aspen, CO we had a new food menu released. One of the new seasonal additions was a completely organic BLT made with fresh in season tomatoes, crispy bacon, and iceberg lettuce. That evening I had sold a couple of them, and by the end of my shift was craving a BLT for myself. At the end of the night while working on my closing side work, I could not stop thinking how great it would be to have a BLT. I could not recall the last time I had one, at least two maybe even three years. Then it dawned on me, lets try to make a BLT cocktail. As I imagined the BLT as a cocktail, I broke it down to its three main components.1. Bacon Fat Washed Vodka : Fat washing is a method of extracting flavor from fat, without the greasy texture. I first encountered this method while taking the Beverage Alcohol Resource (BAR) class in New York City.
1lb of uncooked bacon
750mL vodka
and let the bowl set at room temperature for a minimum of 2 hours. Place the bowl in the freezer for 1 hour to congeal the fat, finally strain and filter the liquid. A strainer or chinois, and a common coffee filter will do the trick.
1 tomato (or as many as you would like)
Method : Fill a Large sauce pan filled 3/4 full with water, and bring to a very light boil. Blanch the tomato in the hot water for 15 seconds, remove and allow to cool. Peel the tomato using a pairing knife, pulling away the skin. Throw the skinless tomato in a blender or a juice extractor, and strain the juice using a chinois.
3. Lettuce Air : As a molecular mixologist, I am constantly conducting new experiments on cocktails. Earlier the same day (just prior to the BLT idea) the Hotel Jerome executive chef Chris Keating and I were experimenting with soy lecithin. Lecithin is a phospholipid most commonly used in the culinary field as an emulsifier and/or to make an air (very similar to a foam). Given this nature, we thought there could be a possible use for it in constructing cocktails.
4 oz lettuce juice
1/2 tsp soy lecithin
2 oz water
aerolatte milk frother
Method : Extract the juice from the lettuce using either a blender or a juice extractor. If using a blender, be sure to strain the juice using a chinois. In a container (5 inches wide or larger) combine 4 oz lettuce juice + 2 oz water + 1/2 tsp soy lecithin and mix with an aerating device. In this case, the aerolatte milk frother works well. If more air is desired, just add some more soy lecithin to the same solution, and mix.
Glassware :
Small sherry glass
1 oz Bacon Fat Vodka
Lettuce Air
2 oz Tomato Juice
Salt & Pepper