Name: Clarified Vodka Milk Punch
Total time: 60 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 200 ml Cold breakfast tea; 200 ml Lemon juice; fresh Lemon peel; 200 ml Orange juice; fresh Orange peel; 60 ml Vodka; 30 ml Sugar syrup (2:1); 200 ml Milk; 50 ml Vodka; 7.5 ml Sugar syrup (2:1)

Clarified Vodka Milk Punch
Jump to

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
6 ²⁄₃ oz	Cold black breakfast tea
6 ²⁄₃ oz	Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
fresh	Lemon peel
6 ²⁄₃ oz	Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
fresh	Orange peel
2 oz	Ketel One Vodka
1 oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
6 ²⁄₃ oz	Milk (whole milk/full 3-4% fat)
1 ²⁄₃ oz	Ketel One Vodka
¹⁄₄ oz	Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Garnish: Lemon zest twist

How to make:

Milk Punch Base pre-batch (scale-up recipe according to requirement) 1. POUR first 7 ingredients (with peels from the zests lemons & orange) into a sealable container and leave to infuse for 12 hours in a refrigerator. 2. Hot milk method HEAT milk until just starting to simmer and pour (while still simmering) the vodka tea and juice mix into the milk while stirring. As soon as the milk curdles, stop stirring. Chill for at least 2-3 hours and up to 24 hours. OR 2. Cold milk method POUR vodka tea and juice mix into cold milk while stirring. As soon as the milk curdles, stop stirring. Chill for at least 2-3 hours and up to 24 hours. 3. Fine STRAIN mixture through cheesecloth or Superbag into a large jar or another container. Ideally, this should be in a refrigerator (I removed a shelf in ours) with the cheesecloth/bag hung over the jar. 4. Repeat step three, without removing curds from the filter or move to a finer strainer (e.g. from a 400-micron bag to a 100-micron bag) or coffee filter. 5. Stored in the refrigerator, this will keep for a week (and potentially months), but be sure to sterilise containers, etc. Cocktail itself STIR 50ml pre-prepared Milk Punch Base with 50ml vodka and 7.5ml sugar syrup and strain into an ice-filled glass (preferably over a chunk of block ice)

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Milk (whole milk/full 3-4% fat) - Dairy

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Clarified Vodka Milk Punch lifestyle image

Review:

This cocktail requires starting preparation at least a day before you want to drink it, but with its velvety texture and delicate citrus flavour, it's worth the faff. This recipe works with Lactose-free milk, but it must be whole-fat milk.

View readers' comments

History:

Popular in eighteenth-century England, the earliest known clarified brandy milk punch recipe, by housewife Mary Rockett, dates back to 1711. The milk punch became so highly regarded that in 1838, Queen Victoria awarded a Royal Warrant to Nathaniel Whisson & Co. as "Purveyors of Milk Punch to Her Majesty" for their bottled version.

Nutrition:

One serving of Clarified Vodka Milk Punch contains 605 calories

Alcohol content:

2.5 standard drinks
3.66% alc./vol. (3.66° proof)
34.6 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Classic/vintage cocktails
More Elevenses/afternoon cocktails
More Punch cocktails
More Savoury (e.g. Bloody Mary) cocktails

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

Join the discussion

Showing 6 comments for Clarified Vodka Milk Punch.
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

Sally Morgan

29th October 2022 at 18:11

An adventure in alchemy. This is the essential recipe and worth trying before you fall down a rabbit hole of more complicated recipes.

Adam Mack

5th November 2021 at 18:31

Inspired by the Off Menu Podcast & Teri Hatcher to give this one a go. Took afew days but just had my first sip, silkily lovely and packs a decent punch - thanks for the recipe, worked well!

Kelley Reece

16th August 2021 at 02:48

Last question - why so little vodka? For all that work it doesn’t seem like a very boozy drink ??. Seriously though, does it hurt to add another ounce or two of vodka?

Simon Difford

16th August 2021 at 20:52

Very sorry for any misunderstanding! You are correct about the amount of vodka in the pre-batch base but to this, you add the last two ingredients per cocktail serve and that includes an additional 50ml / 1&2/3oz vodka. Therefore 2+oz vodka per cocktail.

Kelley Reece

16th August 2021 at 20:14

Well, sure, but it’s almost less than an ounce of vodka per serving. Possibly even less depending on what your serving size guidance is. I guessed that a serving is 4 oz and it’s about 0.4 - 0.5 of vodka for each portion which barely qualifies as a cocktail. I was just curious what the rationale was for such little alcohol content. Perhaps a typo in the recipe? Or maybe there are some general guiding principles about alcohol proportions in punches that I am not educated about. I use your site to educate myself about the craft of making cocktails because you offer such a wealth of useful information and delicious recipes. I defer to your expertise, but I am just asking as a “student” of yours not as a snide commenter.

Kelley Reece

16th August 2021 at 01:28

When do you remove the peels? Before you add the milk? I’ve got the first 7 ingredients in the fridge now, but not sure if you remove them during the fine straining process or before you add milk.

Simon Difford

16th August 2021 at 07:18

Leave the peels in and strain them out with everything else after adding milk.

Oli H

22nd January 2021 at 20:39

Hello, thanks for this guide, and for the whole site too! An amazing resource. I made this earlier this week, using cold milk (but before your update), and it turned out well after a few goes through the coffee filter. Just to let you know, I read in your newly published article it warns against pouring the milk into the punch - but step 2 above says to do exactly that! I'll definitely try it the other way round next time :)

Kelley Reece

16th August 2021 at 01:29

I also had a question - is there an added benefit from warming the milk versus the cold milk approach?

Simon Difford

22nd January 2021 at 21:46

Please forgive the indecision, milk punches are something of a work in progress for me, not helped by the erratic supply of lactose-free full-fat milk during lockdown. (Lactose intolerance has hit me with age.) I should have been more on top of clarified milk punches years ago! Now on the case - please watch this space.

Cynthia Horen

22nd January 2021 at 19:04

Okay so:
1. Any advantage to heating the milk? Otherwise, it takes extra time for cooling...
2. Any reason to reserve the drained curds--another possible use?

Simon Difford

22nd January 2021 at 20:26

Doesn't appear to be an advantage in heating the milk. That said it's been my tried and tested method but seems I was wasting my time! Straining through curds does help clarity.

See discussion in the Forum