12 Cocktails of Christmas - the BBC (Bacon Bourbon Cranberry) Cocktail

Bacon, bourbon and cranberry makes for a great whiskey cocktail for a liquid Christmas lunch

Nothing conjures up Christmas so much as an image of roast turkey with cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. Sweet and savoury at the same time, it's one of those classic combinations that we thought we'd try to replicate in liquid form. We gravitated towards a local bacon bourbon produced by the Experimental Spirits Co that has this unique savoury note to it. Created by the infusion of actual bacon in bourbon imported from the USA (bourbon can't be called bourbon unless it's made in America, amongst a whole host of other rules), it holds up against the cranberry syrup, with some added tartness from the cumquat liqueur. Surprisingly light and balanced, give this one a try! 

Ingredients

• 60ml Experimental Spirits Co bacon bourbon*

• 30ml Baker Williams cumquat liqueur

• 10 ml cranberry simple syrup**

• 45ml orange and mango juice

• 20ml lemon juice

Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into chilled martini glass.

*If you cannot get ready made bacon bourbon, you can always fat wash your own bourbon with bacon at home. Try this recipe from the man who introduced fat washing to the cocktail masses.

**You can get commercially available cranberry syrup from brands like Monin. We used one called Royal Rose cranberry simple syrup available from Williams Sonoma but if you do have time, try a home made version by adding 1/4 cup of the berries to a simple syrup as suggested by Natalie Migliarini aka Beautiful Booze.