The new Hawkeye & Huckleberry Lounge, self-nicknamed Hawk & Huck, boasts an authentic “ranch to plate” program with beef coming straight from co-owner and native Central Oregonian Brian Malarkey’s family ranch in Tumalo. Malarkey, part of the Food Network’s corral of celebrity chefs, has entrusted the “modern cowboy” themed spot’s bar manager, Hailey Cook — in modern parlance —”to cook.” That starts with one of the new bar’s signature drinks — a new twist on an old-fashioned — the Doc Holliday, made with fat-washed whiskey.
Cook is a recent transplant to Bend, in large part because her life/work situation was imperiled during the wildfires in Lahaina . By the ripe age of 21, Cook was bartending at Mandalay Bay in Vegas.
Two concepts that drive Cook’s cocktails: being true to the region, and as little waste as possible. That meant leaving her signature clarified piña colada back in Maui (although she did conjure up the “Paniolo,” which is Hawaiian for cowboy, that features pineapple juice, dark rum, Jamaican spiced liqueur Falernum, apricot liqueur, orgeat and lime).
Among her creations is the Doc Holliday. Whereas a classic old-fashioned consists of whiskey (typically bourbon), sugar for sweetness, Angostura bitters (for bitterness) and something to make it pop such as a cocktail cherry and an oily twist of orange peel, Cook’s Oregonized riff adds hazelnut liqueur, swaps simple syrup for maple syrup and spruces things up with a touch of Amantillado sherry*. But the real kicker is the bourbon.
What better way to make a cocktail from a restaurant’s bar — one that boasts about its ranch-raised beef program — taste great and feel just right than to prepare tallow-washed whiskey?
“My approach,” says Cook, is to “know your audience. I want to make drinks that are delicious and familiar. These drinks are different but not so different.” She envisions them as “a riff of a riff of a riff.”
Cook selected Four Roses, already an approachable bourbon. The Kentucky elixir is fat washed, which is a technique of intermingling a spirit of choice with virtually any fat of choice, from bacon to butter. When fat washing first started showing up in bars over a dozen years ago, it typically meant introducing rendered bacon fat, then freezing the vessel overnight to fully congeal, then straining out the fat solids. The process both introduces a unique flavor (Gordon Ramsey is fond of saying, “Where there’s fat, there’s flavor) but just as critically, it imbues an unctuous texture that softly coats the mouth. From pillowy hazy IPAs to buttery Chardonnays to effervescent Coca Cola, a great drink works best when it feels as good as it tastes.
*That sherry? Cook’s culinary approach employs Amantillado to cut through the fat.
And what better way to make a cocktail from a restaurant’s bar — one that boasts about its ranch-raised beef program — taste great and feel just right than to prepare tallow-washed whiskey. Tallow is simply fat derived from beef. (And yes, Cook has used duck fat in the past to fat wash spirits.)
I wish Hawk & Huck would offer shots of tallow-washed Four Roses, but for now, it’s reserved solely for the Doc Holliday, which has proven so popular it’s prepared in large batches. As are other Cook concoctions such as her Rhinestone Cowgirl, a fruit-forward vodka drink clarified with milk — another trending process. And with everyone rejoicing in Hermiston watermelon season, the Watermelon Moonshine incorporates this Northeast Oregon delicacy in this blanco tequila tipple.
There’s a greenhouse on the Malarkey ranch growing all manner of herbs and wildflowers that Cook says will be appearing on her drink menu soon. But don’t worry: the Doc Holliday ain’t going nowhere. And Cook’s even already scheming up warm drinks to make Hawk & Huck an aprés ski destination.
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