The McBournie Minute: Bacon-wrapped booze

Bacon: it’s arguably the greatest part of a BLT. It is also all around awesome. We’re talking about pork bacon, none of that impersonating turkey crap, or the reduced fat bacon. This the stuff that sizzles in its own fat until somewhat crispy. If the world had a flavor, it would be bacon, because bacon is awesome.

These are the sentiments of most guys I know. If you think about it, it’s hard to come up with a type of food that wouldn’t taste even better if bacon were added. Soup, seafood, ice cream–you name it, it will taste better with bacon. So it stands for reason that the same thing would apply for beverages. This is undoubtedly why the people at Jones Soda Co. are including bacon soda in their holiday pack this year. But I can do you one better.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have tasted bacon-flavored bourbon.

Every now and then you hear about some new concoction that is sweeping the ranks of mixologists and infusers, but normally it’s vodka they’re making taste like something other than rubbing alcohol. Bourbon already has a flavor people enjoy, so making it taste like something else may not be the wisest of ideas. This was my thinking until this past weekend.

I was in New York City running in the marathon. Alright, maybe I went up there to visit a friend and actually had no idea the New York Marathon was even happening on Sunday, but who can really know for sure which is true? In any case, on Saturday night I was bar hopping in the East Village with my friend Chris and his lady friend. We had just rocked the house  by doing “Rapper’s Delight” at a karaoke bar and went on to some bar whose name I cannot remember.

Chris went up to the bar to order our round. He came back with beers and two neat shots. “Here,” he said. “Drink this.” It was some sort of light brown liquid, which meant it could be a lot of things. So I asked Chris what it was, “Bacon-flavored bourbon–or vodka or something. I don’t know. Just drink it.”

He made a compelling argument, so I drank the shot. I can confirm for you that it was indeed bourbon, and I can tell you that it tasted also like bacon, but my description does not do it justice. They should have sent a poet to describe just how great it was. The flavors actually worked well together. And let’s face it, there’s a certain feeling of walking on the wild side when you drink a liquor that tastes like breakfast food, because it gets you thinking about doing shots in the morning (“Now part of this complete breakfast!”).

Sadly, we didn’t get the brand of the bourbon, so I may never have that liquor again in my life. If I do, however, just imagine how great it would be to mix it with bacon soda.