The Perfect Middle Eastern Cocktail. LOL

"Bacon-flavored vodka? Now you’ve heard it all.

“Everything is better with bacon. It’s one of my favorite foods,” said Don Yovicsin, the owner of Jake’s Dixie Roadhouse in Waltham. “So when one of my friends mentioned the idea of bacon and vodka, it piqued my curiosity.”

He fried a batch of Niman Ranch thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, added the crispy bacon to a large infuser jar with Absolut vodka, then let it sit for four weeks. After the liquor was smoky, he filtered out the bacon pieces with cheesecloth, chilled the vodka to congeal the bacon fat, then removed it via coffee filter.

The remaining smoky liquor was bottled and put behind the bar, where Jake’s is serving it in a variety of cocktails.

“The clear winner has been our Bloody Mary,” said Yovicsin. “It’s too perfect with the smoky bacon flavor.”

Recipe: THE BACON BLOODY MARY

1 1/2 oz. bacon-flavored vodka
6 oz. Bloody Mary mix
Barbecue rub
1 Slim Jim
1 lime wedge

Mix the bacon-flavored vodka and Bloody Mary mix together. Rub rim of tall glass with barbecue spices. Pour mix into glass. Garnish with Slim Jim and lime wedge.

Makes 1 cocktail."