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Bacon Infused Vodka Leads to Arrest of Oklahoma Bartender
Legal Insurrection ^ | 28 June 2016 | Kemberlee Kaye

Posted on 06/28/2016 8:48:00 PM PDT by Fractal Trader

The Pump Bar has been infusing vodka with bacon, garlic, and jalepenos to serve in their brunch bloody marys.

Local news reported:

Back in February, the ABLE Commission was called out to investigate a noise complaint. While it didn’t find any noise problems, there was something else suspicious.

“They found bottles of alcohol were being emptied, contents put in the liquor and put back into the bottle,” said M.Sgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department.

The police report shows a list of things – garlic, pickles, beef and even bacon, being infused into vodka.

“Obviously this is a violation of law,” he said. “You cannot pour alcohol out and pour anything back into the bottle then serve it.”

Initially, the bar and on-duty manager Colin Grizzle, were warned. But, Knight says the VICE unit was called back in April and again found infused liquors.

“You simply cannot do that,” he said. “Regardless of what you’re putting in it, even if it’s just water.”

Grizzle was hauled off to jail. The Pump’s owner, Ian McDermid, tells FOX 25 his employee spent three days behind bars.

“There was no second thought to go to bat for our man after he was arrested on the job for criminal charges,” McDermid told us over email. “We believe there was no violation.”

Yet another tangle to the state’s case is the various other establishments known for selling infused drinks that have yet to be cited or charged for doing so.

KGOU reported:

During June’s ABLE Commission meeting, director Keith Burt said he hadn’t received a notice from the Oklahoma City Police Department about the arrest. John Maisch, a former ABLE attorney, presented the declaration to commissioners, who seemed supportive of the infusion process. But they decided to hold off on answering questions, Denwalt writes:

“If the restaurants are doing something unlawful, then they need to be notified that it’s unlawful,” Maisch said. “There are dozens of restaurants throughout the state of Oklahoma that are infusing drinks, so if it’s illegal then someone has neglected to tell them.”

The ABLE Commission could present its ruling at the next meeting on July 15.

McDermid says he’s losing thousands of dollars in bloody mary sales to customers brunching at other locals who’ve not been dinged for serving infused drinks.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
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To: arl295

Just wow


41 posted on 06/29/2016 4:23:30 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: TexasGator

You are right.

Back when I bartended we were warned about that kind of thing-—decanting, remixing and so on.

We might have six open bottles of Jack Daniels behind the bar, each with a half-inch remaining, but we could not legally pour them into a single bottle.

Of course we did so anyway, with the tacit approval of management, but only when no one was looking.

In those days the fix was always in, and we would be warned when the liquor control officer was scheduled to make his biannual visit. He was a big old heavy-set florid-faced fellow, and he would wander around the joint for a half-hour or so.

Then he would sit down with the manager for a huge (free) repast, including a bottomless glass of his beverage of choice.

After a couple hours we would help him outside to his cab, and proudly hang our new liquor inspection certificate on the wall.


42 posted on 06/29/2016 4:59:51 AM PDT by Fightin Whitey
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To: Fractal Trader

Another example of the law being an ass. If the customers are fine with it, it’s not an issue for the state.

The purpose of the law was to prevent bars from watering down alcohol, or substituting cheaper liquor than what is marked on the label.

This is just typical police state crap that you expect from the kind of folk who work for state alcohol agencies.


43 posted on 06/29/2016 6:38:57 AM PDT by zeugma (Welcome to the "interesting times" you were warned about.)
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To: JTHomes
Thanks for some common sense in a thread dominated by law and order types. No victim no crime should be the guide. Others explain on here the intent of the law is to prevent fraud - cheap liquor in expensive bottles- but that isn’t what was alleged. Seems like the only victim was the law.

Yup. Worship of the law is every bit as bad as the opposite.

44 posted on 06/29/2016 6:44:18 AM PDT by zeugma (Welcome to the "interesting times" you were warned about.)
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To: TexasGator

” But once you pour the vodka out, you cannot put it back into the bottle.”

You can but it’s messy. Bottles need wider necks.


45 posted on 06/29/2016 6:44:27 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: Fractal Trader
garlic, pickles, beef and even bacon, being infused into vodka.

That sounds like one heck of a Bloody Mary.

46 posted on 06/29/2016 6:56:11 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (Waiting for inspiration)
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To: Fractal Trader

Those are Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) rules in most states to prevent mislabeled products from being served. A bar scotch in the Dewars bottle, for instance. The violation probably was putting the infused item back in the original bottle.


47 posted on 06/29/2016 7:24:00 AM PDT by JimRed (Is it 1776 yet? TERM LIMITS, now and forever! Build the Wall, NOW!)
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To: Fractal Trader

I know I feel safer now


48 posted on 06/29/2016 7:25:16 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If you really want to irritate someone, point out something obvious they are trying hard to ignore.)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
They used to have to break the necks out of the empty bottles or the could be fined.

Yes, we had to do that back in the 60s when I first worked at a bar. We paid high school kids as a cleanup crew and smashing liquor bottles into the dumpster was one of their favorite tasks.

49 posted on 06/29/2016 7:28:41 AM PDT by JimRed (Is it 1776 yet? TERM LIMITS, now and forever! Build the Wall, NOW!)
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To: TexasGator
It is. But once you pour the vodka out, you cannot put it back into the bottle.

I thought it was genies that you can't put back into bottles.

50 posted on 06/29/2016 7:28:58 AM PDT by Larry Lucido
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To: KosmicKitty

My concern is pragmatic: does the grease come off the bacon and into the vodka?

If so, gross.


51 posted on 06/29/2016 7:35:49 AM PDT by T-Bone Texan (n't be a lone wolf. Form up small leaderlesss cells ASAP !)
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To: TexasGator

so what if you just add the stuff into the bottle and don’t pour it out?


52 posted on 06/29/2016 7:36:12 AM PDT by reed13k
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To: T-Bone Texan

If you then chill the vodka, you could get rid of any bacon fat I would think. And that would be the most interesting piece of bacon you’d ever eat.


53 posted on 06/29/2016 7:43:04 AM PDT by KosmicKitty (Waiting for inspiration)
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To: USFRIENDINVICTORIA

My understanding is that - in Houston- every bottle has an id, and tax is paid after the bottle is emptied, not before. I suspect there is a similar issue here.


54 posted on 06/29/2016 8:34:02 AM PDT by pierrem15 ("Massacrez-les, car le seigneur connait les siens")
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To: BlessedBeGod
Olive oyl? Vinegars?


55 posted on 06/29/2016 8:37:26 AM PDT by Daffynition ("We have the fight of our lives coming up to save our nation!" ~ Jim Robinson)
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To: AppyPappy

The clinton mafia can get millions in dirty money from abroad, and this poor working stiff gets arrested? Goodness what has this world come to?


56 posted on 06/29/2016 8:39:30 AM PDT by Daffynition ("We have the fight of our lives coming up to save our nation!" ~ Jim Robinson)
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To: Fractal Trader

Son of a *****!! Now I REALLY want a few bloody mary’s.


57 posted on 06/29/2016 8:43:55 AM PDT by Travis T. OJustice (I miss my dad. I live my life with a FIERCE ALLEGIANCE!)
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To: WKUHilltopper

of all the important terrifying things happening and this is what our “justice” system is fiddling with....


58 posted on 06/29/2016 9:25:05 AM PDT by cherry
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To: T-Bone Texan
My concern is pragmatic: does the grease come off the bacon and into the vodka?

If so, gross.

One of the methods for infusing bacon flavor is to pour warm bacon drippings into a bowl with the vodka (or bourbon, etc.) and stir. The grease floats to the top, so you can chill the bowl and lift off the fat before pouring into a storage bottle. Not the best method (I tried it); the prominent flavor wasn't bacon-y. More like the fat from a pork roast. I ended up using that bottle to soak the barbeque charcoal before lighting - waste not, want not.

The correct way is to fry up a pound of bacon, drain it, then soak it in the spirit for a week or two. That method pulls out the smoked, salty meat flavor and minimizes the greasy taste.

59 posted on 07/21/2016 2:07:00 PM PDT by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: WKUHilltopper

I know that this is an old post. But what I find strange is this simple fact. ABLE is a complete scam. There are no classes, like there are in Texas. You give them $35 and they give you a piece of paper. I tended bar in OKC for three years and never knew the laws. Why? Entrapment, that is why. You cannot hold anyone responsible for laws that they are simply not aware of.


60 posted on 04/01/2017 10:36:59 PM PDT by nunyabuzniz
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