O Bacon! My Bacon! Rise Up and Hear the Bells!
I was recently given the opportunity to interview Stefan Schachtell, one of the co-creators of Bakon Vodka, the bacon-flavored vodka. When I first heard about this product, my initial reaction was “Really? Americans are so fat that we need bacon-flavored vodka now?” But upon further consideration, what Schachtell, Liden, et al. are doing is actually quite cool, because they are claiming for the manly man a category of spirits that many felt would be forever off-limits: flavored vodkas.
DRP What was the genesis of Bakon Vodka?
SS Much like the, “your peanut butter my chocolate” story, we put bacon in our bloody mary and fell in love with it. We have a friend who is obsessed with bacon; to the point where he bring bacon to camping trips but organizes the entire camps order so that we have enough. I mean, the guy has has a personal butcher. He brought bacon to the party where we were making bloodies, and we combined the two. Sven Liden (one of my partners) and I started discussing the merits of flavored vodkas, and we thought to ourselves, “no one is making bacon flavored vodka…let’s do it!”, and the rest is history.
DRP Are there other meat-flavored beverages on the market? Did you try any of them before coming up with Bakon?
SS At the time of our launch there were no commercially available meat flavored spirits. We refer to ourselves as, “The #1 meat flavored spirit in North America.”
DRP Do you think that Bakon Vodka is a novelty product, or is it developing a serious and loyal following?
SS As you can imagine, there wasn’t a lot of data supporting American’s love for meat flavored spirits, but we’re definitely seeing a movement towards savory cocktails of which Bakon is a part. We have states that are going through more and more Bakon every month, which definitely reflects a growing love affair with our vodka.
DRP When will Prime Rib Vodka be available?
SS Never.
DRP How does one garnish a Bakon Martini?
SS We usually suggest a rim of salt or a salt/sugar combination for some of the sweet cocktails like the Bakon Chocolate Martini. There’s a great martini invented in St. Louis at “Prime 1000 Steakouse” that combines equal parts Bakon and pickle juice with a salted rim. It’s awesome.
DRP What about a Bakon on the rocks?
SS Bakon has a incredibly intense flavor profile; intentionally so that it comes out in a cocktail. People that drink Bakon straight are the same sorts of people that enjoy peaty scotches and heavy wood bourbons.
DRP Texas, Louisiana, Colorado, West Virginia, North Carolina. These are states where (according to www.bakonvodka.com) Bakon Vodka is not available. I have a hard time believing that there are more bacon enthusiasts in Portland, Seattle, and NYC than there are in meat country. When will Bakon be available in Texas?
SS Well, we’re now available in Colorado! Texas is coming soon, nothing firm but we’re looking at May.
DRP Who is Bakon Vodka’s key demographic, and why?
SS We think that we have a few key groups of fans. Obviously, first is People who love Bacon. The second is People who love Bloody Marys. The third is People who love to experiment (or the consummate bartender). They are interchangeable and it’s more than likely that people belong to 2 or more groups!
DRP Polar Ice and Vermont Gold make maple flavored vodka, now there’s Bakon Vodka… any plans to develop a pancake-flavored vodka?
SS Equal parts Bakon vodka and Pinnacle Whipped (whip cream flavored vodka) = THE WAFFLE SHOT. It’s awesome.
DRP It’s been a pleasure interviewing you, is there anything else you’d like to add?
SS The pleasure was all mine!
If you’re interested in finding out more about Bakon Vodka, please check out the website (www.bakonvodka.com) or the facebook page (www.facebook.com/bakon)
