How it tastes
Despite the gouda in the name, this drink doesn't taste cheesy. The fat-wash technique strips out the dairy and leaves behind just the gouda's nutty depth. What you get is an espresso martini with more body, a softer foam, and a long savoury note on the finish that doesn't fit anywhere else in the cocktail vocabulary. The white peach is the surprise. It cuts through the richness and keeps the drink from feeling heavy. We've watched people order this expecting to dislike it and stay for a second.
What is "fat washing"?
Fat washing is a technique borrowed from chefs. You infuse fat (cheese, bacon, butter, peanut oil) into a spirit, then freeze the mixture. The fat solidifies and traps the heavy oils. What remains in liquid form is the spirit with the savoury flavour notes but none of the texture. For gouda specifically, what carries over is umami and a faint roasted-nut quality. We use a mild young gouda, not aged. The aged stuff is too sharp.
Why we built it
We were testing what we could fat-wash that wasn't standard (bacon, butter). Gouda was a long shot. The first attempt was awful. The third was unexpectedly good. The name came before the recipe worked, which is sometimes how these things go. It's been on the menu over a year and remains one of our most-ordered drinks.
Where to drink it
On the menu at Dissolved Solids, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya. Reserve a table and we'll have one waiting.
If you want to know more about coffee in cocktails, our journal has a field guide to Malaysian kopi with notes on how kopi-O translates into espresso-martini territory.