Once you’ve broken your cherry by making some bacon-infused vodka Bloody Marys, give this one a shot.  After tasting a bacon Bloody Mary, I was inspired to create a BLT-type drink.  After a lot of trial and error, here’s what I came up with.

Now, if you haven’t made bacon vodka yet, it’s time to man up already.  It’s wicked easy – cook some bacon and add vodka.

Having done that, let’s make some BLT-inspired cocktails. For our first example, start by adding equal parts of the following: Bacon-infused vodka Hendricks gin (The “L”) – For those of you not familiar with it, Hendricks is a Scottish gin made from traditional botanicals as well as cucumber leaves and rose petals.  You WILL taste the difference. If you’re afraid of gin, this one’s a pussycat; people who hate gin love this one.  I also know that cucumber is not the same as lettuce, but who in the hell wants a drink made from lettuce? Tomato Juice A dash of celery salt and/or sea salt

BLT Cocktail

The cucumber flavor in the Hendricks is subtle when mixed with the bacon vodka and tomato juice.  I added a splash of cucumber juice  to enhance it (cucumber+blender+cheesecloth).  It’s not necessary, but it’s definitely an improvement that’s worth the whopping $0.50 and two minutes of hard labor. My favorite aspect of it is that you taste it in stages – first the cucumber, then the tomato, and finally the bacon. It’s basically a “light” version of a Bloody Mary.  This is also a deal-maker since it goes down smoother than water and is laden with alcohol. It’s like Rohypnol for the DIY-er!

Now, I love Bloody Mary’s, especially Bacon Bloody’s, even Virgin Bloody’s – but after having one, I’m ready to settle with a smoother cocktail. This next drink is something you can knock down with ease until you can’t legally drive, and it’s equally as tasty (and if you don’t want to shell out $35 for Hendricks as far as the gin is concerned, it’s a much cheaper alternative…).

BLT Smoothie

In your blender, add: One cup of diced seedless (English) cucumber, or about 4″ worth. 2.5 oz tomato juice and 2.5 oz of bacon vodka. Toss in a couple ice cubes and blend. It’s more of a smoothie than a cocktail, but delicious nonetheless. The texture of the cucumber actually enhances the flavor. To be honest, I prefer this version of the drink, but it requires too much preparation and cleanup for a guy without a wife. So if you have a wife, this drink might be for you! Cheers!

This was a joint venture between myself and Erik Brown, the bartender at the Oregon Grille. Once I learned that it was possible to create a bacon-infused vodka, I immediately thought, “That would make a bitchin’ Bloody Mary.” I finally got around to making the vodka a couple of weeks ago, and the drink had its debut today. It was a big hit. Once you make your bacon-infused vodka (refer to previous link!), the hard part is over. All you have left to do is make your mix. For his Bloody Mary mix, Erik works outside the realm of standard measurements. He adds enough of each ingredient until it tastes just right (I’ve found it’s better to make the mix to your personal taste anyway.)

You’re essentially going to combine tomato juice, prepared horseradish, Worcestershire Sauce, cracked black pepper, celery salt, Tabasco, and a little lime juice. Do feel free to go Avant Garde on the ingredients though, because you can easily balance out your mistakes. However, the mix will make or break this drink. If you don’t love the mix then start over.

To top this all off is a coated rim. It’s a combination of celery seed, Old Bay, and black pepper. To make it adhere to the glass, wipe the rim with a wedge of lime.

It’s finished off with a celery stalk and a few olives; 3 to be exact.

Cheers!

(if you’d like to read about the bacon and other foodstuffs featured at this horrifically amazing event, go here)

SO I’ve been wracking my brain over and over about what to say about the Heavy Seas Bacon and Beer Fest put on by Clipper City Brewery the other day, and I just can’t really do it justice. The event was positively magical; all you can drink Heavy Seas and Clipper City brews (which will get you bombed incredibly quickly as it turns out), bacon centric foods and frigging pirates walking and ROLLER SKATING around – it was simply the best way to spend half of a Saturday afternoon. The ability to walk around among the bottling equipment, tankards, cisterns, cooling systems and all of the other brewery equipment that comprise an otherwise industrial setting were perfectly woven into the festivities in a way that bizarrely complimented the whole thing.

That coupled with the surreality of pirates walking around and getting drunk while eating bacon, I mean …what the hell? The whole thing was incredibly well executed and I can’t wait to get back to another one of their events, regardless of the theme.

At any rate, hopefully some of these pictures can kind of do the whole thing a bit of justice.

[Show as slideshow]

 

It’s not often that I pull the “come to this event or you’re dead to me” card but this is a truly, truly wondrous event for celebrating a truly wondrous beer at the Clipper City Brewery: It’s a brewery tour It’s on Talk Like a Pirate Day It’s “all you care to sample” BEER AND FUCKING BACON IF YOU DRESS UP LIKE A PIRATE, YOU GET TREASURE. Here’s the skinny, direct from their website.

September 19th – 12-4pm

15+ Bacons, 10+ Beers, 10+ Restaurants, Live Music From Dirty Secret (who?) and More!
Baltimore’s Best Brewery and Over 10 of its Finest Restuarants have convened to salute nature’s greatest food: Bacon!

Tickets are only $40 (plus tax) and include ALL-YOU CARE TO TASTE beer and fabulous bacon.

Just a sampling of what you can expect……

* Bottomless samples of Heavy Seas favorites and some special new brews made up for the occasion.
* The Bacon Explosion.
* Other great dishes including……BLT’s, Piggy Candy, Bacon Wrapped Scallops and so much more!
* 15+ Different Bacons From All Over The World.
* Special “Treasure” For Anyone Who Dresses as a Pirate – since it is National Talk Like A Pirate Day.

……….and Much More!

Tickets are $40 and limited to the first 300 ONLY!

Join Us and Get your Pig On!

Call 800-830-3976 for additional information.
(or Ally at 410-878-9900)

ORDER TICKETS – APPARENTLY THERE ARE ONLY 50 LEFT!

also add it to your calendar!

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I’ll be there and so will several other locally famous individuals. So should you!

The Bacon and Beer Happy Hour IV has come and gone and it was a pretty great time indeed. For a bar that has essentially made a name for itself solely through Tweeting frequently, Bad Decisions has really done a fine job of generating a ton of interest in their events and establishment in general, this particular event especially. The place was packed by 7pm and it was still packed when I left, having a grande olde time eating entirely too much bacon and drinking cheap beer.

And when I say entirely too much bacon, I mean entirely too much bacon; instead of pretzels in baskets, they put out baskets of bacon as snacks. Each and every menu item had bacon in it (a lot of bacon) – I played it safe with a grilled cheese and bacon but other sandwiches, such as the GBLT (a BLT with Guacamole) were piled enormously high with the smokey goodness.

And no evening featuring all things bacon would be complete without a star, a bright shining star that eclipses all other food items, a truly epic piece of food destined to destroy us all in a white hot supernova. That food item is known as The Gutbuster, and it is truly horrifying. The Gutbuster is a double bacon cheesburger with – are you ready for this – two bacon grilled cheese sandwiches as a bun (no lettuce or tomato, that shit’s for pussies). Yeah.  This thing was like a Hollywood star on the red carpet when it came out of the kitchen. Pictures being shot left and right, ooohs and aaahs and gags all around. Upon taking his first bite, one guy stated “it’s like I’ve been slimed!” as grease and butter covered his chin. But he ate the whole thing, and then ate a plate of nachos. Unreal. (I also submitted it to This Is Why You’re Fat)

People were met, beer and bacon vodka were consumed, it was great. Can’t wait for the next one!
LIGHTING EDIT: For tons of really really good pictures of the event, head here.