Maple Rye Sour on Whiskey Sour Day
2 oz Pikesville Rye
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/4 oz Maple syrup
1/4 oz Averna Amaro
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled Sour glass or Old fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with an expressed Orange peel and some Candied Bacon.
I generally don’t like Sours but this combination with freshly squeezed juices is to fucking die for. Just the Pikesville, REAL Maple Syrup, and Bacon alone make life worth living. I think I first had Candied Bacon as a garnish in a drink at a BBC Game Dinner in Sandwich, MA. The experience made life make sense a little more than the day before.
This is how I made my Candied Bacon…
1 lb Thick Cut Bacon
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
Black Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a baking rack on top. Lay the Bacon strips across the rack and cook for 10 minutes. Flip all of the Bacon strips and cook for another 5 minutes.
After the 5 minutes brush each side of each bacon strip with the sugar mix and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. After that 5 minutes, repeat coating both sides of the bacon and heat for another 5 minutes or until the bacon reaches desired crispiness. Let cool for 5 minutes or so before losing self control and eating it all.
