Thirsty Thursday: The Great Maltini

"Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live."

Socrates

This week we have something a little different in store for Thirsty Thursdays... you get to meet the bartender and learn about a new cocktail. So lets do it.

Name: Eric Stein

Bar: The Knick

How did you get your start bartending?

A friend of mine got me a job in a club opening up in Milwaukee about 18 years ago. I lied about my experience and learned really quickly how to crank out drinks behind the bar.

Where else have you worked?

Hotel Metro in the early days, Tess and the old Holiday House.

What is your favorite thing about bartending?

I like the flexibility and my circle of regulars

What is the worst thing about bartending?

Where I work it would be making the ice cream drinks when we are busy.

What is your craziest bartending story?

I got to watch a crazed drunken naked women run down the street making an attempt to get inside for one more drink after bar close.

What is your favorite drink to make?

When I have the time I like The Great Maltini.

The Great Maltini

1/3 Dutch Chocolate Vodka

1/3 Kahlua

1/3 Bailey's Irish Cream

2 oz malt powder

Blended with ice

Finish with a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I never knew, I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Have you ever been hit on while working?

Yeah, all the time.

Ever go out with a customer?

No, I've always focused on the staff

Have you ever had to cut someone off?

Yes

How did that go?

Fairly well, I'm pretty tall and I have the ability to intimidate drunk people.

Where is your favorite place to grab a drink on your day off?

Is it lame to say my couch? I mean it's safer, there is little to no chance of getting a DUI, and I'm a bartender so I know what I'm doing. Besides my day off is Monday.

So what's going on at The Knick?

We have a rockin busy patio! Check us out on Thursdays for half off wine night or our Saturday breakfast (9am-2pm) / Sunday brunch (9am-3pm).

Thirsty Thursdays is brought to you by Eat MKE, and by The Larry Miller Drinking Society, and by YOUR BAR HERE.

Fun Behind Bars with Dy Mixes

Bacon Vodka: Your Questions Answered
Guest Blogger: Dy Mixes
More from her at: Fun Behind Bars


You know I've been infusing for a good long time now, and the infusion program at my bar is strong and healthy. One of our ongoing infusion projects is the Veggie Vodka that makes our Bloody Marys extra-savory and delightfully complex, but not spicier. The large jar is beautifully backlit and sparks conversations with our guests about infusions generally: how it's done, what can be done, how long it takes... then at some point my sixth sense starts tingling and I know what's next. "What if you could make bacon vodka?" I tell them bacon vodka has been made for years, that there's a bar a few towns over that's been making it, I've never tried it (am a vegetarian, or I would), but I bet it's not that hard. Today is my PSA for all the bacon-lovers who want to incorporate the smoky umami of bacon with their favorite spirit.


To make bacon-infused spirit, you'll use a technique called "fat-washing," which NY Bartender Eben Freeman popularized and perhaps perfected. I do love science, so for my geeks I will say that you are about to perform a solvent exraction of fat, wherein the volatile flavor compounds are pulled out of the fat by the spirit.


Back to the practical world. If you actually want to fat wash bacon into spirit, here's what you'll do: Start with a fatty, insanely smoky bacon. In a review of the available literature, most folks swear by Benton's Bacon -- but everyone agrees that whatever you use, it must be smoky to the extreme. Especially fatty bacon will also be helpful, as you're after the fat, not the meat. The ratio of fat-to-spirit is about 6 pieces of bacon for every cup of liquor. You will cook at least 5-6 pieces of bacon, then drain the fat. You will put the melted fat into a heat-proof glass jar (like a canning jar) with the spirit and mix it well. Put its lid on and let it infuse for 4-6 hours, shaking occasionally. Put it in the freezer overnight to seperate the fat, which you will then lift off. Strain the liquid, first through cheesecloth and then through coffee filters until it runs through easily, and is clear and lovely.


This makes me think about a few things, for example, nobody comes right out and says to use salt pork, but insofar as it is salty and fatty, it seems like a good fit for this project. If for some reason it were not smoky enough, you might add a little Liquid Smoke. Also, I think different bacons will lend themselves to different projects. For example, maple-smoked bacon seems particularly well-matched to bourbon, and I bet it would make a fine Old-Fashioned. This is PDT's Don Lee's blissfully-simple recipe:

2 ounces bacon-infused bourbon

1/4 ounce Grade B maple syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Twist of orange

Just to keep you thinking, fat-washing works for any type of fat, so think about fat-washing brown butter into amber or dark rum. A co-worker gave me a bottle of peanut-butter flavored vodka a few years back. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. Think duck-fat Grand Marnier for a Duck a L'Orange cocktail. ( pic left)




Finally, for a little extra credit: if you were not making cocktails, but wanted the pure flavor of the bacon, after the freeze, you could evaporate off the alcohol and be left the meaty equivalent of an essential oil.





Look forward to learning more about Dy in an upcoming interview and stay tuned for more of Fun Behind Bars!

Thirsty Thursday: The B52

"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough."

Mark Twain

The B52

1 shot Kahlua

1 shot Amaretto

1 shot Bailey's Irish Cream.

Use real Bailey's because some of that cheaper stuff looks gross when you mix it. You don't want it to start separating out and looking chunky. We drank this one at Nice Ash. Yes you can still smoke there. (Cigars not white cigs sorry.)

Nice Ash

327 West Main Street

Waukesha, WI 53186

(262) 547-9009

Thirsty Thursdays is brought to you by Eat MKE, and by The Larry Miller Drinking Society, and by YOUR BAR HERE.

Just an update, as of next week this blog will be featuring bartender interviews along with the cocktails they make. So look forward to that. Do you know a bartender you'd like to see on here? Tell them to get in touch with us. Send us an email or leave a comment.