Winter Milk Punch

Recipe: Derek Jacobi and Chris Price , Abigail Hall , Portland, Oregon

Photo: One Haus

December 21, 2022

A silky sipper for the holidays.

Beverage director Derek Jacobi and lead bartender Chris Pine of Abigail Hall in Portland, Oregon, wanted to create a clarified Penicillin. But after many R&D sessions, they discovered that combining and clarifying the mixture of mezcal, ginger peach tea, and cream sherry produced a “raisiny twang.” Plus, this winter milk punch’s “lovely mouthfeel, mild sweetness, and shelf stability make it a winner all around,” says Jacobi.

Ingredients

Yield:12

16 oz. ginger peach iced tea (Abigail Hall uses Smith)
8 oz. whole milk
8 oz. Lustau East India Sherry
6 oz. mezcal (Abigail Hall uses Banhez Joven)
3 oz. ginger juice
3 oz. white sugar
3 oz. fresh lemon juice

Tools:saucepan, large container, cheesecloth
Glass:rocks
Garnish:lemon oil and peel, 2 sprays of mezcal

Preparation

Combine all of the ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved. In a saucepan, heat the milk just before it boils. In a large container, pour the punch mixture into the warm milk. Allow the mixture to set overnight, undisturbed. After 24 hours, triple-fold some cheesecloth and attach it to a large container. Pour the curdled mixture into the cheesecloth and be sure not to disturb it while it drips through. Once the mixture is strained through, save the cheesecloth full of curds, and run the strained mixture through the curds again to achieve even more clarification.

Pour 3 oz. of the mixture over ice, spray a few mezcal spritzes over the cocktail, then garnish.