TASTE: Little Pig in the Big City by Tom Blassman
Little Pig in the Big City - a bacon-fat washed cocktail topped with bacon-wrapped shrimp at Allen Street Pub.
Photo: Konrad Odhiambo/The Dishing. Helping hand: Susie Davidson Powell
This bacon-fat-washed cocktail is the love child of Manhattan and an Old Fashioned. Crafted by Tom Blassman at Allen Street Pub, Albany.
Interview: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Konrad Odhiambo/The Dishing
Bartender: Tom Blassman, bartender
Allen Street Pub: allenstreet.pub IG: @allenstreetpub IG: @tom_the_bombikaze
Tom Blassman is the creative force behind (arguably) the area’s least well-known, seasonal craft cocktail menu at an unassuming, 80-year old dive bar, the Allen Street Pub. Read more in our Guest Shift interview.
The cocktail: Little Pig in the Big City
The inspiration: “Essentially I wanted to make a Manhattan in Old Fashioned form to accentuate the Bacon Fat Washed Smoke Wagon Bourbon. So I took Carpano Antica - a quality sweet vermouth - and made a rich demerara syrup with it. All of this to pair with the bacon special we were doing: bacon-wrapped dates!
For the build: To a mixing glass, add 3 dashes of Jerry Thomas bitters, .5 oz of Carpano Antica syrup, and then 2 oz of bacon-fat-washed Smoke Wagon bourbon. Add ice and stir. Pour into a rocks glass with a large cube. Flame an orange peel and garnish with it and a bacon-wrapped date.