Making of a Signature Drink: Brats' Tobacco Milkshake

Booze has long been a popular ingredient for nostalgic adults who want a more grown-up of their milkshakes.  Just when you think you can't improve upon that simple combination of ice cream and milk, add Baileys, rum, or a host of other liquors to bring yourself to adult dessert nirvana. 

But tobacco?  Chef Daniel Angerer adds the intoxicant to the shakes at his casual Austrian-inspired diner Brats, located in the Chelsea section of New York.  "Smoking tobacco has been a part of dining for along time so it was natural for me to incoporate it. We're using seco leaf type of tobacco which is a mild cigar tobacco. I love the flavor nuances of it" 

The gently smoky flavor is infused into the thick vanilla ice cream base.  If you think of the slight vanilla-y notes wafting from a pipe, the combination begins to sound less odd.  Try it alongside the menu of  house-made sausages like the Dragon Dog, a Berkshire pork sausage wedged into a fresh local bakery poppy seed bun with Chef's kimchee.  Intoxicating. 

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