What I’m Drinking Now: Katie Zuidema and the Nectar Confit
Katie Zuidema is head bartender at Gabriel Kreuther in New York.
This cocktail reimagines the classic Old Fashioned, offering a richer and more layered experience while maintaining its familiar comfort on the palate. It begins with a foie gras-fat–washed bourbon base, giving the Nectar Confit a savory opening that gradually transitions into a subtly sweet finish.
Orchard fruit notes shine throughout — most notably apples from a Red Delicious infusion and pommeau, complemented by stone fruit tones of apricot liqueur and amaretto. Earthy, spiced oak notes emerge from Tennessee straight bourbon, sherry cask–aged aquavit, and cherry bark bitters, while a touch of house-made vanilla bean syrup ties it all together, rounding out the classic Old Fashioned flavor profile.
In essence, it’s a deconstruction — and reconstruction — of an Old Fashioned designed to emphasize my favorite elements: spice, orchard fruit and vanilla. The apricots and apples bring brightness, the amaretto lends nuttiness, and the aquavit, cherry bark and vanilla add warmth and depth for a cocktail that feels both nostalgic and new.
Nectar Confit
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
1,920 g. Peg Leg Porker bourbon
960 g. Red Delicious apples
6 tbsps. Rendered duck or foie fat
Set up ban marie with water and sous vide circulator. Set circulator to 125°F for 3.5 hours. In three separate sous vide bags add 640 g. of bourbon, 320 g. apples, 2 tbsps. duck fat. Allow bags to sit in water bath for 3.5 hours, shaking bags to integrate ingredients every hour. Strain out apples and allow mixture to cool. Place infused bourbon in quart containers and freeze overnight. Remove hardened fat and strain bourbon through coffee filter.
Katie Zuidema, head bartender at Gabriel Kreuther in New York, created this recipe.
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