Kyushu Truffle

Unlike many of my cocktails, this one didn't start out with the intention of making a cocktail, but rather experimenting with one of its ingredients: fat washed vodka. I'd always wanted to get into fat washing cocktails. I'd milk washed cocktails many times before and was quite experienced with the process, but fat washing was something I hadn't had the chance to get into, due to how seemingly daunting the process is. However, I didn't particularly want to melt down butter or create anything en masse like cocktail bars tend to do.

The term fat washed vodka is a bit too general. More specifically, I used white truffle olive oil that I bought in Marin County to fat wash vodka, imparting a very strong truffle aroma and a smooth texture onto the vodka. I emulsified it by shaking it in a mason jar occasionally for a few hours before putting it into the freezer before work the next day. To make it easier to remove the alcohol later, I put it in sideways so the fat cap wouldn't block the alcohol. When I came home, the fat had completely solidified.

I was told to immediately drain the alcohol after removing from the freezer, as the oil begins to melt almost immediately and if left alone, will mix back into the vodka, which isn't what we want. I strained the mixture through a couple oil filters (the same ones I use for milk washing) and then was left with this liquid that looked like white Gatorade but smelled intensely of truffle vodka.

For my first time doing it, I'd call it a success. But now that I had it, what do I make with it? It tastes great on its own, but most of my ingredients in my home bar are on the more floral or fruity side, which wouldn't exactly pair that well with truffle. My first instinct was to make an olive martini with it, but I wanted to make something a little bit more complex that would still let the truffle shine.

I ended up adapting a recipe from Yuki Yamazaki's Yuzukosho liqueur cocktail list, which called for a split base of gin and shochu mixed with yuzukosho liqueur and grapefruit juice. To me, it made sense, since the floral taste profile of the ingredients would fit together quite nicely, but since it also called for a truffle salt rim, I decided to take the recipe in a different direction and try to replace the gin with my truffle vodka. It seemed farfetched to mix truffle with citrus, as I was sure it wouldn't work out well, but it ended up tasting great. Yuzukosho liqueur on its own tastes pretty similar to yuzu liqueur, but sweeter with a spicy aftertaste that you initially would think is because of the alcohol and then realize it's because of the pepper. This pepper attribute would end up actually pairing really well with the truffle, and offered a unique taste I've never had before. I thought the grapefruit juice would end up being too bitter, but it was actually balanced out by both the sweetness of a bit of agave syrup that I added, as well as the saltiness from the truffle salt.

Overall, this was an absolutely unique cocktail that I think is one of a kind, and while the preparation required to make this involves a lot more than I would normally like, the end result makes it quite worth it.

• ½ oz yuzukosho liqueur

• ¾ oz truffle vodka

• ¾ oz shochu

• 1 oz grapefruit juice

• 1 bar spoon agave syrup

• lemon slice for rim

• truffle salt

To make truffle vodka:

• Emulsify 12 oz of vodka with 2 oz of white truffle olive oil and let sit for a few hours

• Freeze overnight

• Remove fat cap and strain vodka through two oil filters

• Bottle and reserve

To serve:

• Add all liquids to glass

• Rim a rocks glass with lemon juice

• Dip in truffle salt

• Wet shake

• Double strain over glass with large ice