Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Breaking Down Milk Punch, a Creamy and Increasingly Clarified Classic

Mark Stock
By

One of the oldest drinks around, Milk Punch is a lot like it sounds. The dairy-centric drink mixes up fresh milk, sugar, vanilla, and a spirit — most commonly bourbon, brandy, or a bit of rum or vodka. But there’s much more to the age-old classic.

Related Reading

Related Videos

Milk Punch dates back to the 1600s in Scotland. By 1711, it had officially been documented in a published cookbook. By the latter half of that century, people like Benjamin Franklin were enjoying the drink. In those days, it was often served hot, as refrigeration was not a real option and producers were still figuring out how to properly stabilize and bottle milk.

Since, the drink has mostly gone the served cold route and forked into two main categories. The first, ever-popular in New Orleans and much of the South, is typically made with bourbon and heavier dairy like milk or cream. The second, sometimes called English Milk Punch, is its clarified cousin. This style is heated early on in order to curdle and strain out much of the thicker proteins. What’s ultimately poured into the glass is a lighter and see-through version of the cocktail, typically served over ice.

Related

The former is decidedly more cold weather and holiday appropriate. The latter, however, is delicious year round, although it takes a little more work to get things clarified. Do your prep work beforehand and store things briefly in the fridge if necessary. We’ve included recipes for both styles, below.

Cocktail Bonnie’s Milk Punch

Clarifying sounds harder to do than it actually is. Sure, you can get super scientific and do it with things like centrifuges and vacuum filters, but why not keep things relatively easy? We suggest the tried and true method of heat and filtration. A simple stovetop and some coffee filters or cheese cloth is all you really need, in addition to the asks of the cocktail recipe itself. When properly done, you can end up with everything from a gin-clear Milk Punch to one that shows many colors of the other ingredients, without the cloudiness.

A very important aspect of the drink is temperature, as is often the case when working with dairy. As mentioned in Cocktail Codex, a fantastic cocktail book, the drink in question “should be constructed in a way that it’s served at the ideal temperature.” Because we’re shooting for cold here, chill you drinking vessels beforehand. And don’t forget about the amount of liquid you’re dealing with. Keep pours small so that there’s not much opportunity for the frosty drink to warm up any.

With a host of milk options at your local grocery store, you’re advised to play around a bit with the dairy base. Try a nuttier almond milk when whipping up a punch, or even oat milk. Options like rice milk and kefir can change the drink, too, often in healthier ways. Some even turn the drink on its head with ingredients like mango milk or coconut milk. Buckle up and have some fun.

1965 Milk Punch

This tasty riff from Jason Stevens of Mattie’s in Austin is a vintage take on what so many on the Gulf Coast like to sip. You can lighten it up by plugging in a lower-far milk and feel free to play around with other complementary additions, like Earl Grey tea or coconut.

1965 Milk Punch Recipe Matties
Nick Simonite
  • 4 oz bourbon (Stevens prefers Buffalo Trace)
  • 3 oz Cognac (Stevens prefers Pierre Ferrand 1840)
  • 2 oz crème de cacao (Stevens prefers Tempus Fugit)
  • 1.5 oz Jamaican rum (Stevens prefers Appleton Reserve)
  • 16 oz half-and-half
  • 8 oz whole milk
  • 2.5 oz grade A or B maple syrup
  • 1 oz vanilla paste

Method: Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and stir vigorously to make sure the vanilla is fully dispersed in the mix, then chill until very cold. Dispense milk punch into small chilled cups and garnish each cup with freshly grated nutmeg.

Clarified Milk Punch

Like so many clarified recipes, this Bon Appétit version is a little deceptive. Drinkers usually expect something thick and murky and end up with the opposite, while still retaining all the flavor. Pro tip: Make the punch base beforehand, as it can refrigerate for up to a week.

Base Ingredients:

  • 3 cups brewed black tea
  • 3 cups fresh lemon juice
  • 3 cups fresh orange juice
  • 1 cup simple syrup
  • 1 cup vodka
  • 3 cups whole milk
Cocktail Ingredients:
  • 1.5 oz vodka
  • 2 oz milk punch

Punch Base

  1. Combine tea, lemon juice, orange juice, simple syrup, and vodka in a large pitcher.
  2. Bring milk to a bare simmer in a medium saucepan. Immediately pour milk into vodka mixture (milk will curdle right away). Cover and chill at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.
  3. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth into a large bowl. Cover and chill until cold (any remaining curds should settle at the bottom of the pitcher).
  4. Carefully ladle clarified punch into a clean pitcher, leaving any remaining curds behind. Chill until ready to serve.

Method: For each cocktail, combine vodka and 2 oz. milk punch base in a cocktail shaker and fill shaker with ice. Shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Is erythritol harmful? What a dietitian says new data means for your Keto diet
Erythritol is common in many keto foods - what does that mean for your health?
erythritol in keto diet advice

While sugar substitutes have been around for more than a century, they didn't really become mainstream here in the United States until around the mid-70s. According to Carolyn De La Pena, professor of American Studies at UC Davis and author of Empty Pleasures: The Story of Artificial Sweeteners from Saccharin to Splenda, between 1975 and 1984, Americans increased their consumption of artificial sweeteners by 150 percent. This timeline makes sense when you take into account that the late seventies coincided with the start of our crazed diet culture and the revolving door of fad diets.
One such diet that doesn't seem to be going anywhere, however, is the Keto diet. Still hugely popular among Americans trying to shed a few pounds, Keto focuses heavily on limited or no carbohydrates. Because sugar contains carbohydrates, followers of Keto have turned to artificial sweeteners to satisfy those late-night cravings - sweeteners that, more often than not, contain erythritol. Erythritol in particular has become hugely popular because it's much better for baking than other sugar substitutes, has less of an artificial flavor, and will keep the eater in Ketosis, which is key for losing weight on the Keto diet.
A new study has made waves recently because its findings indicate there's a link between erythritol and higher rates of heart attack and stroke (though the study did note that only an association was found — not causation. So should you be worried?
We asked Dan LeMoine, RD, the award-winning author of Fear No Food and the Clinical Director at Phoenix-based Re:vitalize Nutrition, what he had to say about erythritol, including its benefits and potential health risks. "Artificial sweeteners are still sweeteners. While many are non-nutritive or zero-calorie, we tend to view them similarly as we do regular sweeteners or sugars — moderation is key. While many have amazing implications on weight loss – being low to no-calorie options and having little impact on blood sugar, some have their downside," he says.

While some of that sugar substitution has been good for waistlines and health issues that come from obesity, it seems to be causing more and more concern when it comes to other potential health issues. "For example," says LeMoine, "some research indicates the popular sweeteners stevia may have negative effects on the gut microbiome. And the recent study showing correlation between the sugar alcohol, erythritol, and heart attack and stroke."

Read more
Feeling adventurous? 5 of the weirdest cocktails from around the globe
Would you order a cocktail with a pickled human toe? You can in Canada, apparently
unusual and unique cocktails sourtoe cocktail

We all love a good cocktail, but it's easy to tire of the classics. There's nothing wrong with a perfectly frosty, salted-rimmed margarita, or a warm-to-your-bones, cherry-topped old-fashioned, but sometimes, you just want something new. Something that makes you think. Something that, perhaps, gives you a chuckle. These are those cocktails.
Pig's Blood Piña Colada (USA)

Back in 2014, bartender Jason Brown of Chicago's Kinmont restaurant and bar, concocted this cocktail after listening to a Werewolves of London lyric about a werewolf drinking a pina colada. His creativity sparked, and the "Werewolves of London" cocktail was born.

Read more
The 8 best protein shakes that are ready-to-go
These shakes come with all the good stuff, and none of the crap
Svelte

With as busy as we have become as a society, we always seem to be on the go. This can make life challenging, especially when it comes to wellness goals. In a perfect world, you could hit the gym hard, crush a workout, then immediately refuel with a balanced, home-cooked meal. But, since life happens and we are always on the go, it’s not always feasible to take the time to actually cook up a muscle-building meal right after your workout. Whether you’re on the go and short on time, or just can't stomach a full meal after exercising, having a quick and easy, protein-packed option that doesn’t require kitchen time, is a helpful alternative to refuel your body and maximize your results.

This is where protein shakes come in handy. Numerous ready-to-drink shakes are available that provide muscle-building protein, vitamins, minerals, and calories to fortify your body after a workout. They offer the benefits of protein powders with the convenience of eliminating the need for a shaker bottle, or high-speed blender, let alone making a mess with powders. Simply give the bottle a quick shake, pop the top, and you’re good to go.

Read more