4 Savory Cocktails

 

 SAVORY COCKTAILS

 

As a person without much of a sweet tooth, I love finding savory cocktails. For some reason most bar menus only have sugary sweet syrupy drinks. There are really only 2 popular savory drinks, the Bloody Mary and Dirty Martini. Sure, there are “neutral” drinks (neither sweet nor savory) like Scotch & Club Soda or spirits served  neat or on the rocks, but where’s the creativity and other flavors on the taste spectrum? Why is savory only reserved for food? We’re missing out on a lot of potentially fabulous ingredients by relegating them to the kitchen, lets bring them to the bar and have some fun!

 

Here’s a list of my favorite lightly sweet or full on savory drink recipes:

 

gin

Prickly Dog

Prickly Dog

This is a twist on a salty dog and is just a little sweet, but balanced with salt and rosemary.

  • 1 ½ ounces of Gin
  • 3 ounces of freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary

 

Remove the bottom 2/3s of the rosemary leaves from the stem. Mince the leaves that have been removed and combine with sea salt. Rim a rocks glass with a lime and the rosemary salt. Add ice, the Gin, and the grapefruit juice. Top with Club Soda, garnish with lime and stir with the rosemary sprig.

 

mezcal

The Agave Plant

Dirty Rita

Really nice balance of salty, sweet, sour and smokey.

  • 1 ½ ounces of  Mescal
  • 1 ounce of bread and butter pickle brine
  • Juice of 1 lime wedge

 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, strain into a Martini glass. Garnish with a b&b pickle or a pickled green bean.

 

Porky’s III

martini

Bacon Bourbon

  • Bacon Bourbon
  • A twist of orange
  • Drizzle a martini glass with maple syrup

Shake the bacon bourbon, and strain into the martini glass.  Make a spiral with the maple syrup and garnish with the orange twist.  There are a couple of bacon bourbons on the market, but I prefer to make my own.  Below is the recipe for bacon bourbon that I use.

 

 

Bacon Bourbon

This takes a little bit of effort to make, but well worth it.

  • ½ pound of bacon
  • 1 bottle of bourbon

 

Cook the bacon and place it in a clean jar. Add the entire bottle of Bourbon to the bacon and cover with a tight lid. Freeze for at least few hours and up to a few days. Strain and store in the refrigerator. Serve neat or on the rocks with a few drops of maple syrup and an orange slice.