This post and recipe are all about the Fat Washing Technique, which is a simple yet very effective way to infuse alcohol with rich fat-based savory flavor!
Use fat washing to make delicious fat washed butter rum!
What is fat washing alcohol?
Have you heard of fat washing alcohol before?
It’s quite popular among bartenders, and is a really great way of infusing flavor into alcohol. Unlike sweet, fruit flavored liqueurs, this technique specifically infuses fat-based, usually savory flavors into alcohol. It’s pretty awesome and life-changing if you ask me!
There’s plenty of information out there about fat washing alcohol and I did quite a bit of research, but I couldn’t fine a reliable way to fat wash alcohol with butter. I tried different techniques, but only one resulted in a clear spirit.
Fat washing alcohol with different fats
I have also tried fat washing alcohol with different kinds of fats. Butter and bacon are obvious choices and I had great results, but I’m still trying to figure out peanut butter (imagine peanut butter flavored vodka? yum!).
Bacon was my first attempt and I tried it with vodka and bourbon. Bacon is easy because you can easily turn it into pure melted bacon fat. Butter on the other hand required a few attempts for me to get it right. Now I’m trying to get PB right.
But for now, let’s make butter infused rum!
Three stages to fat washing
- Combining the melted fat and rum together.
- Let it infuse and then freeze the rum (this is done overnight, and the fat layer infuses flavor into the spirit and hardens/freezes as a separate layer).
- Strain the rum – remove the hardened fat and strain the spirit to remove any residual particles.
I tried different techniques, and three techniques in particular to get a clear rum spirit that still had a great buttery taste.
Some techniques out there resulted in a very cloudy rum spirit (which was still delicious by the way), which could still be used to hot buttered rum, warm rum punches or some select cocktails.
But I wanted a beautiful clear rum with the flavor of butter. I tested these techniques multiple times to make sure I could replicate the successful results.
How to make fat washed alcohol
Technique one
I melted the butter and rum together using EXTREMELY gentle, indirect heat (i.e. double boiler) because I didn’t want the alcohol to evaporate.
Then I kept it in the freezer so that the layers separate and the butter hardens, and later strained the rum.
The result? Deliciously buttery, BUT cloudy rum. The butter didn’t quite freeze in a solid disc shape either. It was harder to strain.
Technique two
I melted the butter in the microwave / stove top until just melted and then poured it into the rum. I didn’t overly mix it, just swirled the butter around. Then it was frozen and strained.
Result? Still buttery, but cloudy. But less cloudy than the first technique.
So both these techniques gave me cloudy rum, which isn’t what I wanted. It’s still really delicious though and works well for cocktails that don’t need to be clear.
BUT, that was when I realized that the melted butter still had milk in it (Duh!). The melted milk and liquid were causing the rum to become cloudy because they dissolved in the alcohol and didn’t freeze. So I couldn’t strain it out. So I was left with milk mixed rum.
SO, I heated the butter to the point where the liquid has evaporated and the milk solids have separated, so that I can extract pure fat from the butter.
Technique three
Here, I melted the butter over the stove (to the point where all the liquid had evaporated and I was left with butter fat and the solids), then added this to the rum and froze. Then strained.
Result? Buttery (but not as buttery as the first two techniques), AND CLEAR RUM!
Recipe notes
- Once you melt the butter, if you add ONLY the fat (without the milk solids), you get the clearest result with a mild creaminess.
- If you add the milk solids as well as the fat to the spirit, then you will end up with a slightly cloudy rum, but with a creamier taste.
- I used a coffee filter to strain the spirit so that any solid fat / milk solids were strained out as well.
- With the last two techniques, I got most of the butter frozen solid which made it easier to remove it. Any remaining butter can also be strained out easily using a coffee filter.
- As an added bonus, if you heat the butter until the milk solids turn brown (brown butter), this will add an even more intense buttery flavor to your rum, which is very highly recommended even though the rum will be very slightly cloudy!
The possibilities with this fat washed butter rum are truly endless! You can use this technique for spiced rum too!
I’ve made butterscotch liqueur with this fat washed rum and let me tell you, it’s absolutely bonkers! 🙂
This is also the base for my absolutely amazing GOLD SHIMMERY LIQUEUR! The recipe for that will be up on the blog soon.
Recipe
Fat Washed Butter Rum
US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results whenever available.
Common Measurement ConversionsIngredients:
- 1 1/2 cups Gold rum / aged rum
- 115 g unsalted butter (1/2 cup butter)
- 1 1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Pour the rum into a wide-mouthed jar.
- Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat until the butter has melted, and starts to boil and foam up (this is when the liquid is evaporating).
- When the butter has stopped “spluttering” (or when you start to see the butter milk solids turn light golden brown), remove the butter from the heat. Let it cool down slightly.
- Add the vanilla to the rum. You can use vanilla extract or an equivalent amount of vanilla bean caviar/paste or one half of a vanilla bean. If you’re using vanilla extract, you can add the vanilla at this point, OR AFTER the rum has been infused with the butter (see below). If you’re using vanilla bean paste/caviar or beans, then you MUST add it at this point.
- Pour the melted butter into the rum and swirl (or stir) a couple of times. Close the jar and let the rum be infused for about 30 minutes – 1 hour. Don’t shake the bottle.
- Place the rum in the freezer overnight (up to 48 hours).
- The butter layer should separate and harden while in the freezer. When the rum has infused, remove the jar from the freezer. Using a spoon or knife, break the butter layer so it’s easier to remove. DO NOT DISCARD THE BUTTER, this can be used for other recipes like brownies, or for cooking too.
- Pour the remaining rum through a coffee filter to remove any other solid butter left in the alcohol. Pour the strained rum into a bottle and store in the fridge and use it for clear cocktails as you need.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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