Cocktails with Unsalted butter
Unsalted butter is a dairy fat churned from cream, made without added salt.
Substitutes for Unsalted butter
In a hot drink another unsalted fat melts in the same way — ghee or a neutral nut butter, though each brings its own flavor. For fat-washing, any clean fat works: coconut oil and clarified butter are the usual choices, and the technique matters more than the fat.
Often confused with
Salted butter
Salted butter is this with one to two percent salt added. In a hot buttered drink that salt is welcome; in a dessert build it has to be accounted for. In a sweet drink that salt is audible, which is why bar recipes specify unsalted.
Clarified butter and ghee
The milk solids and water are cooked out, leaving nearly pure fat. It will not curdle or foam, which makes it the better choice for fat-washing and the worse one for a foam on a hot drink.
Storage
Wrapped and refrigerated it keeps a month, and frozen it keeps for several. Butter takes on the smell of whatever sits beside it, so an open pack next to onions will taste of onions within a day.
