Sleigh Me Slowly
I attended my first cocktail competition disguised as a Christmas party this week. It was 12 couples, 12 cocktails, and 4 categories of prizes. It even included a very sophisticated anonymous voting platform. The competition was savage. But what a fun way to spend an evening with friends around a fire in our beautiful Arizona winters.
I decided to make a clarified milk punch, which is a technique dating back to the 1600s using whole milk to “clarify” the cocktail. Essentially, a punch is made and then poured into whole milk. The milk immediately curdles and honestly looks awful. But with a little patience and straining, the cocktail transforms into a beautiful and softer version of itself. All the flavors are present, but they take on a silky characteristic and round out the flavors.
This recipe uses a high-proof bourbon, but don’t fear the whiskey. The milk punch transforms it into something even non-bourbon drinkers will like. If you want something more tropical you could use a high-proof rum as a substitute. The recipe is included below. I will warn you a milk punch, while not complicated, is time-consuming, so give yourself a couple of days (or more) to have ample time for this one. It is a great make-ahead cocktail for a party because it can be easily batched and held for a while.
The gumdrops on the side were a fun garnish. The recipe is not my own, but I coated them with sugar and a little citric acid to give them a tangy pop. Here is a link to the recipe: Gum Drops.
Sleigh Me Slowly
1 750ml bottle 100 proof bourbon (I used Knob Creek)
8 oz Velvet Falernum
Peels from 5 lemons
3 cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg, rough chopped
16 oz 100% Pomegranate juice
1 cup sugar
3 oz fresh lemon juice
5 oz fresh lime juice
8 oz orange juice
12 oz whole milk
Mix pomegranate juice with sugar in a saucepan. Heat to fully incorporate the sugar and let cool. .
Peel five lemons (reserving fruit for juicing). Add bourbon, velvet, falernum, lemon peels, cinnamon sticks, and nutmeg to a glass container. Let infuse overnight. Then strain the solids out.
Add the pomegranate mixture and juices to the infused booze mixture and stir.
In a non-reactive container, add the cold milk. Slowly pour in the cocktail into the milk. Stir. Let set for a few hours in the fridge (I usually do it overnight) to let the milk work its magic. do not stir, let it sit. If this looks completely disgusting at this stage, you have done it correctly.
To strain, place a coffee filter in a wire strainer over a container. I used a Chemex coffee maker because it sits nicely on my glass jar. Slowly strain into the filter. As the curds build in the filter, it drips slower and slower. To speed it up, I change coffee filters every few cups of liquid. You will get a little bit of cloudiness this way but it is minimal. Straining will take you a few hours. So I usually plan to do while I am doing chores so I can just walk by and add to it.
Once strained, bottle and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
