The Best Fat Washes for Rum

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Fat wash is a technique applied to spirits to impart more flavor, body and texture to the chosen alcohol. The technique of fat washing is often seen in mixology, with bartenders using fat-washed spirits to enhance a cocktail. Rum is the perfect spirit choice for fat washing and is often given this treatment for many cocktails including a riff on the famous winter warmer, hot buttered rum. 

For more information on what fat washing is and how to do it visit our rum FAQ article.

There isn’t really a limit to the type of fat washes one can do with rum, but there are some that really elevate the rum’s flavor and texture. Different oils will give different flavors and the oil you choose should pair with the cocktail concept you are trying to create as much as the rum. 

Here are some of the best fat washes for rum and how to use them.

Coconut oil

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Coconut oil is a great fat wash for light rums because it gives subtle hints of coconut to the rum and makes a perfect addition to most tropical drinks. This alcohol infusion is incredibly simple to make and adds a ton of body to the rum. It is best to use an extra virgin, cold pressed and unrefined coconut oil as it will have a lot more flavor than the more processed oils. 

This type of fat-washed rum has been seen in many cocktail bars and was even featured in Drink Masters on Netflix. Use the coconut fat-washed rum in a pina colada or just pair it with pineapple juice to have a two-ingredient cocktail that packs a flavor punch. 

Butter 

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Butter is probably the most well-known of fat washes for rum in particular. This is a common addition or riff on the winter classic cocktail, hot buttered rum. The result of this fat wash is a rum with a creamy mouthfeel and contains delicate sweet and savory dairy notes. For this combination, aged and dark rums are a better pairing with butter. It is best to use high-quality unsalted butter. Add butter-washed rum to any warm winter drink including hot buttered rum or milk punch. 

Another variation of the butter-washed rum is to first brown the butter before infusing it. Brown butter is made by slowly heating butter in a pan till the milk solids begin to separate and eventually turn brown. The result is a butter that has more toasted nutty flavor notes. Brown butter as a wash goes perfectly with dark rums to make cocktails like warm boozy apple cider or even as an addition to rum cakes. 

Bacon Fat

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This is one of the more difficult but delicious fat washes for rum. The bacon fat adds a ton of savory smoky notes to rum, which is unusual in the rum world. However, it is actually a great pairing. The process for this is a bit more time-consuming since the fat first has to be rendered from the bacon.

This is done by simply cooking the bacon in a pan or on a sheet tray with a rack in the oven. Collect the fat after cooking and strain it before using it to fat wash. The technique for fat washing is the same, mix with the rum while it is hot and in liquid form and let sit for a few hours before freezing to make the fat solid.  Strain the rum through a fine mesh sieve and then enjoy either straight or in a savory smoky version of a rum old-fashioned.

Honeycomb

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Honeycomb is an edible mass of hexagonal cells created by bees to store honey. It may seem strange to use honeycomb as a wash for a spirit but that result is outstanding. Honeycomb is actually a wax and not a fat, so the resulting infusion is called a wax wash. However, the technique is much the same. 

Aged rum, has a delicious flavor profile that will suit honeycomb which gives the rum sweet honey floral notes. To wax-wash the rum, simply break the honeycomb into chunks and place in an airtight container. Pour the rum over top seal the container and let sit for about three days before straining several times and storing in a clean bottle or jar. Use the honeycomb rum in any number of cocktails including a honey bee cocktail or a rum version of a gold rush. 

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