Okay, baby, I’ve got your white trash alternative here.

But first, I want to say I *eventually* bought Fee’s Bacon Fat Wash bitters, and for the unsuspecting, it’s such a breeze. Remember to SHAKE the bottle each time before you use it, and you’ll get the full flavor in the glycerin solution.

In the beginning, where I heard about washing bourbon in bacon fat, of course I wanted to do the real thing. Grease me up! For the fat, I turned to my trusty tin can.

Since I was a little girl, my mamma and my grandma always poured extra bacon fat off into jars and cans, to keep by the stove, or in the fridge. Then you’d cook whatever wanted in the fat— the eggs, meats, fish. I didn’t know what “olive oil” was — we were Irish.

So, in the tin can, you’d accumulate all kinds of bacon drippings you’d been cooking, and yes, each one became a fusion of the next. That is what I infused my bourbon with, and it was fantastic.

This is the ultimate Old Fashioned as far as I’m concerned. The pork that was always missing. Add a cherry and a pickle for Great Lakes style.