Fat-washed cocktails are taking off in Hong Kong, inspired by PDT’s Benton’s Old Fashioned
- Inspired by the Old Fashioned, bars are using bacon fat and butter in a time-honoured ‘new’ drinks fad
- Mr Brown in Wan Chai uses unsalted butter to create My Butter Half, a smooth, spirit-forward drink
“Fat-washing” as a trend in cocktails arguably began in 2007, with the creation of the Benton’s Old Fashioned, by Don Lee, at New York’s PDT speakeasy.
Now a fixture on PDT menus in New York and Hong Kong, at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental, the Benton’s Old Fashioned is made with bourbon whiskey infused with bacon fat. It is a modern classic, and was considered revolutionary when introduced. It has influenced countless imitations – some more successful than others.
However, the idea that fat and alcohol go well together was well established long before Lee had his moment of inspiration. Coffee cocktails topped with cream have been around since at least the 19th century, and since the middle of the 20th, Irish coffee, it has been said, has provided “in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat”.
“It’s a mixture of old and new,” says Raphael Meyer, bar manager at Mr Brown, in Wan Chai, and a fan of fat-washing. “The original method came from a long time ago. There is a milk punch recipe dating from 1711. The milk made the drink smoother, and I think butter washing can have the same effect.”
One of the cocktails on Meyer’s list is called My Butter Half and, like the PDT cocktail, it is derived from the Old Fashioned, a simple combination of spirit, sugar and bitters.
