The rise of meat-based cocktails: bacon and egg martini anyone?

Stylist.co.uk January 2016

The rise of bone broth, championed by food writers such as the Hemsley sisters for being nutrient-rich, has led to an unexpected consequence.

Drinkers are now also downing cocktails with meat infusions and garnishes. At the Japanese-Peruvian-Brazilian restaurant SushiSamba in London, a Kobe Cocktail is being sold. This is a variation on the Old Fashioned, popularised by Don Draper in Mad Men.

The whiskey in a Kobe is first washed with the highest grade of Kobe beef fat before being stirred with maple and salted caramel and served over a block of ice.

Perhaps even more adventurous is the Foie Gras & Salted Caramel Manhattan, available at Duck & Waffle, which uses a foie gras infusion mixed with Jack Daniels whiskey, vermouth blend, salted caramel and maple.

Possibly more appealing to fans of a Full English breakfast is the Bacon and Egg Martini concocted by the London Cocktail Club founder JJ Goodman. It mixes Jack Daniels with an infusion of smoked bacon, one egg white, maple syrup, lemon juice and a dash of bitters. Pancetta is used as a garnish.

There is also a meat garnish available at The Shrub and Shutter in Brixton where the Deer Hunter, a mixture of Tincup Bourbon, orange, Copavilla Tobacco Amarone, smoking pipe bitters made on site and Russian birch sap, is served with venison carpaccio as a garnish.

Anyone indulging in Dry January shouldn’t feel left out as the Seven at Brixton bar has partnered with Cruga Biltong beef to create a limited edition mocktail, the Bil & Tonic. It combines zingy lemon and lime with Cruga Biltong infused sugar syrup, topped with earthy Cinchona Tonic Water.