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Mike's Mix: Everything Nice Old Fashioned

Every Friday, Mike Augustyniak picks up a new cocktail recipe from a local mixologist. This week, he headed over to Brasserie Zentral to see their wintry twist on a classic American drink.

Ingredients
2oz brown butter washed Scotch (instructions follow)
1/4 oz (fat) Benedictine
1/4 oz (skinny) demerara simple syrup
2 eyedroppers Cherrybark Vanilla bitters

Directions
Stir the ingredients over ice, then strain and serve in a lowball glass on a large rock of ice.

To make the brown butter Scotch fat wash:
- Heat 1 lb of butter over high heat in a pan until the milk solids start to turn brown
- In the meantime, split open a full vanilla bean by slicing it lengthwise, down the center
- Combine the browned butter, vanilla bean, and 750 ml of Dewar's Scotch into a food-safe container
- Stir or shake the container, and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours
- Carefully remove the congealed fat in large chunks, and discard
- Fine-strain the liquid through layers of fine cheesecloth, or through a coffee filter
- Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator

Taste Test
An Old-Fashioned cocktail is one of the original cocktail varieties, dating back to the 19th century, that still wields flavor influence today. At its core, an Old Fashioned is bitters, spirit, water, and sugar.

The "Everything Nice Old Fashioned" is a seasonal variety of the drink, that's a little smoother and a little easier to drink. The brown butter and fat wash makes for a smooth, velvety mouthfeel, and the vanilla adds a sweetness. Traditionally made with bourbon or rye, the Dewar's Scotch adds a smoky, earthy taste, completing the winter theme.

More about Brasserie Zentral
Named the "Best New Restaurant" of 2014 by the Star Tribune, Brasserie is the creation of chef Russell Klein, owner of Meritage in St. Paul.

"It was the cuisine and the brasseries dotted throughout the cities of Europe that inspired us to create one here - celebrating the cuisine of the continent."

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