Fee Brothers believes fat wash in a bottle will shake cocktail industry

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Fee Brothers, Inc., a staple on the Rochester business landscape since 1864, believes its latest product line will revolutionize the cocktail industry worldwide.

The fifth-generation, family owned manufacturer of beverage flavor enhancers today is introducing three lines of Fee Brothers fat washes.

By packing the taste sensation of savory into a bottle, Fee Brothers has eliminated the need for the arduous day-long, fat-washing process and instead allows bartenders and mixologists to quickly add extra richness and depth to a cocktail.

“It’s definitely going to be something that changes the game,” said Brandon Pinkins, who owns The Cocktail Lab on Liberty Pole Way in downtown Rochester as well as his own mobile bartending business.

The three water-soluble, shelf-stable fat wash flavors — bacon, butter and roasted duck — are being manufactured at Fee Brothers’ Portland Avenue facility and are being distributed across the U.S. as well as internationally.

“There are five things that you can taste: Sweet, sour, salty, savory and bitter,” Jon Spacher, president and CEO of Fee Brothers, explained. “Four of those things are very easy to incorporate in your cocktail. But savory is difficult to do.”

Fat washing provides the savory, yielding exceptional taste results for cocktail connoisseurs. But it’s a complicated process and not every bar or lounge has the time, or know-how, to fat wash a bottle of bourbon or vodka — one at a time.

“What we’ve been able to do is create a water-soluble, shelf-stable fat wash in a bottle,” Spacher said. “In three to five dashes you can experience the exact same flavor and mouth-feel that fat washing does.

“We’re very excited about this because this is the remaining 20 percent (of taste sensations) that has been difficult to achieve, and nobody else in the world has this product.”

Before the bottle version of fat wash came long, if a customer wanted a roasted duck fat washed bourbon old fashioned, the process for the bar to create that one drink would have started at least 24 hours earlier.

“The mixologist has a duck on a rotisserie and he collects the drippings from that,” Spacher said. “He stirs it into his (bottle of) bourbon, waits for all the oil to come up to the top, puts it in his freezer, lets that freeze overnight and then takes the frozen oil cap off. Then he takes multiple layers of cheese cloth and strains the bourbon through that to get rid of the last little bits of oil or crumbs, and then puts it back in the bottle.”

After all that, the fat washed bourbon can be poured into a drink.

Or, now that same mixologist can just shake a dash or eight of Fee Brothers Roasted Duck Fat Wash into the cocktail.

“You just dash it like some hot sauce,” Pinkins said.

It’s a revolutionary advancement in an industry that always demands different.

“There’s a lot of bars that are constantly changing their cocktail menus,” Pinkins said. “It will be interesting to see who uses these fat washes the best. Who can make the dopest cocktails with this fat wash?”

The variations could be endless, because now it’s easy to incorporate the elusive savory sensation into an alcohol-infused concoction.

“Fat-washing is something that is being done to elevate a cocktail menu,” Spacher said. “If you think back to 1984, drinking your pina colada: It was a very one-dimensional drink. Delicious, but one dimensional; just sweet. You think about an old fashioned; it’s more two dimensional. You’ve got the simple syrup (sweet) and the bitters.

“What mixologists continue to try to do is how to pair multiple layers of these five things to create the best tasting experience. Most of where savory comes from in the mixology world comes from fat-washing your spirits.”

Business has been very strong for Fee Brothers. Over the past six years, revenue has tripled and employee base has gone from 12 to 50 to maintain the current product lines — bitters, brines, flavored syrups and Fee Foam. The internal movement to add a fat wash began in early 2025.

“One of our flavor companies came to us and said they have a new technology and, through their technology, the could turn this into a water soluble ingredient while maintaining the original flavor,” Spacher said.

His immediate reaction: “You don’t know what this means to our industry.

“At that point it really took on a great amount of steam. Over the past year we have taken multiple iterations of this products to Rochester mixologists and asked for their thoughts and we perfected it. Now we’re proud to actually have a viable product to bring to the world.”

An added benefit: Even if a bar enjoys fat washing its own spirits the old-fashioned way, they need to be in compliance with rules set by the New York State Liquor Authority. New York requires that the label on a liquor bottle behind the bar include all ingredients, and you can’t hand-write “strained duck fat” onto the bottle.

“So, if you fat-wash a spirit and then put it back in the bottle, or put it in a different container, that no longer is acceptable,” Spacher said. “This product also address that concern as well.”

Fat washing doesn’t necessarily work with every drink. If you’re watching the Kentucky Derby, don’t try it with a mint julip, Spacher advised. But it will pair nicely with many cocktails.

“The spirit of choice is just that, it’s just the spirit,” Spacher said. “You add other things to that spirit to make a multi-dimensional cocktail. Otherwise you’re just having a shot.

“But when you’re making a cocktail, you’re asking, ‘What am I adding to this, is it a fruit juice, is it bitters, is it a saline solution?’ It’s the things you’re adding to the spirit that make it a cocktail.”

Don’t expect to see Fee Brothers marketing the fat wash while you’re watching an NFL game this fall or your favorite drama on TV or a streaming service.

“We’re in the business of selling bicycles to bicyclists, we are not in the business of creating new bicyclists,” Spacher said. “There are tons of people in the world that have never heard of fat-washing, but there are plenty of mixologists and cocktail enthusiasts who have. They exciting part is, they will spread the good word of Fee Brothers to the masses on our behalf just out of pure enthusiasm.”

Today’s launch date of June 1 was chosen in order to coincide with Rochester Cocktail Revival, which kicked off May 31 and runs through June 7. A national Fee Brothers fat wash tour is scheduled for July and August.

“Nobody in the world has this, so we’re very excited to continue innovating and creating non-commoditized products that the cocktail industry is very excited about,” Spacher said. “My grandfather used to have a saying, ‘Don’t squeeze, use Fees.’ Instead of buying all these fruits, you can just use our flavorings.

“The idea still stands today. Instead of doing all this work, we can get you a high-quality product that does just as well.”

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