It wasn’t until I was developing the watermelon feta milk punch recipe, that it dawned on me to fat wash the spirit! Fat washing is a technique that used to extract ethanol and water-soluble flavor compounds from fat and infuses them into a spirit. The most common way to fat wash is to add liquified fat to a spirit, freeze the mixture, and extract the spirit from the fat.

While I can’t just hop on a plane anytime soon, I can recreate that feeling at home with this cocktail that I’m calling Breakfast in Paris. It is a Kir riff that is reminiscent of a French baguette smothered with butter and jam- a classic Parisian breakfast that I enjoy frequently when I am in France. The fat washing of the cognac takes this simple Kir to the next level.

Watermelon & Feta salad is one of my summertime obsessions. It’s so refreshing on a hot summer day, and the sweet and salty flavor profile is definitely my kind of salad. As I was enjoying one the other day, I thought to myself, how could I make this even more refreshing? The answer of course - is to turn it into a cocktail!