Darling’s Signature Gin may be the first buttered gin in Australia, but butter and gin in cocktails do go a way back! Made famous with a bacon-infused Old Fashioned, ‘fat washing’ is a method used by chefs and bartenders to introduce flavours into alcohol from molten fats. This is not limited to butter or bacon; other fats such as coconut oil, duck fat, olive oil, – even cheeses! – can introduce a subtle rich flavour and silky mouthfeel to all kinds of spirits.
While Darling’s Gin utilises esters (or vapours) during the distilling process, buttering a gin is a relatively straightforward DIY project with a little bit of forward thinking. If you’re enjoying the creaminess of this month’s gin and want to kick things up a notch, be sure to give it a try with some of your other favourite gins!
Some combinations to get your creative juices flowing: barrel-aged gin with spiced butter, bourbon and melted smoky bacon fat, rum and coconut oil, gin and olive oil, or vodka and chilli oil. Yum! Try out some of our favourite recipes below to get you started.
