The Trendy Method To Try For Richer Chocolate Cocktails

To bring luxuriously decadent flavor into cocktails, you have other options besides reaching for chocolate liqueurs and sugary syrups. We spoke to Justin Lavenue, owner of Austin's The Roosevelt Room, The Eleanor, and RoadHaus Mobile Cocktails, for tips on how to build a rich taste in drink recipes without needing to stand over the stove and melt chocolate pieces. "My favorite way to incorporate chocolate flavor into cocktails is with cacao butter," he explained. "Fat-washing cacao butter into a spirit, particularly bourbon and rye whiskey, not only gives it a rich, silky texture but a deeply complex flavor of both white and dark chocolate." 

Lavenue uses Wild Turkey bourbon that has been fat-washed with cacao butter in a cocktail called the Standing Ovation served at The Eleanor. Cacao butter is vegan, making the inclusion suitable for those following vegan diets, and the rich, buttery texture makes the cocktail velvety and smooth. The tweak is a subtle one but it can make a noticeable difference in terms of mouthfeel. While fat-washed booze can be delicious served as stand-alone sippers, it can also add a tasty boost to your favorite classic cocktails. A smooth old fashioned or a classic Sazerac cocktail can take on new dimensions when made with cacao butter-washed whiskey, as the infused whiskey will deliver a silky, smooth texture.

Choose any spirit you like to impart a velvety mouthfeel and consider the tasting notes you'd like to highlight in both your cocktail recipes and the spirit itself. Cacao butter, sometimes also labeled as cocoa butter, not only winds up in culinary projects like white chocolate treats and candy bars but also helps build texture in personal care products such as lotions and soaps. The butter itself needs to be melted down to a liquid before being combined with a spirit and used to make an infusion. As with most fat-washed booze, the longer you let the combination rest, the stronger the flavor infused into the enhanced ingredient will become. Keep in mind that if you're using the booze as a mixing ingredient, a higher-intensity liquid can help provide the flavor you're looking for.

Begin by using one part cacao butter to three parts whiskey, or change the ratio depending on your palate. Set the liquids into a freezer until a solid layer of residue freezes on the surface of the container, with the liquid alcohol resting on the bottom. Strain the liquid from the cacao butter and save any remains for other culinary projects, like baking treats or cooking tonight's dinner. You can taste your infusion before serving and brag to your friends about the drink you made before experimenting with fat-washing whiskey with brown butter or giving your favorite bourbon a bacon bath.