How to make clarified milk punch with Rico
Milk clarification is one of those things you might hear about or see on menus in fancy cocktail bars – but what does it actually mean?
Long story short, Milk clarification is a technique that allows you to remove impurities and astringent flavor compounds from your cocktails, leaving you with crystal clear and impossibly smooth sippers that are gonna amaze anyone you pour them to. It sounds terrifying, but this is actually one of those cool things that just about anyone can learn to do from home (if they’ve got the patience).
Wanna learn how to do it? Watch the video above where Rico takes us through the entire process step-by-step!
Check out Absolutdrinks.com for more tips tricks and cocktail recipes!
Milk clarification doesn’t just make the drink look prettier, it also removes astringent compounds from the cocktail mixture, giving it a smoother and cleaner taste. We like to demonstrate the technique with a milk punch, but it works for a lot of other cocktails as well. As long as they contain an acidic component and/or alcohol, you should be able to clarify it with milk!
The ratio of milk to cocktail to achieve clarification is usually something around 1:4. However, in the recipe above we use a 1:5 ratio.
Yes and no. The reason we use milk in the first place is because it curdles as a reaction to heat and acid, thereby trapping impurities and astringent flavor compounds. After that, we filter out the curds, and are left with gorgeous crystal clear cocktails that can be bottled and served at a moment’s notice. Some plant-based milk alternatives like coconut milk and soy milk curdle in similar ways, but they require higher heat and longer resting times so they’re normally a fair bit more complicated to use in the clarification process. Other dairy-free milks like almond and oat won’t even curdle up at all, meaning you won’t be able to filter out the stuff you want to. However, if you’re interested in a similar technique that you can perform without using dairy products, you might want to check out “Fat Washing”.