Love your cocktails? This Christmas, cavort with cocktails that feature an underrated element — dairy — and enjoy a unique component in your concoctions.
It was early spring in Los Angeles, and I had walked into a homegrown kitchen in downtown LA called Kato,critically acclaimed for its New American style of Taiwanese-American cooking. It boasted of a tasting menu which was significantly in tune with its signature cocktails. What was interesting was that 1/3rd of the cocktails used some form of dairy. The riffs on classics included a milk-washed gin for a sublime Bee’s Knees, a smooth Milk Punch infused with brown butter, and a foamy Sloe Gin Fizz with cream.
Now one would wonder how dairy fits into the world of spirits? While not extensively used —dairy in most forms in a cocktail — it adds a beautifully rich texture, tames almost any sharp spirit, and adds a wholesome mouthfeel to the experience of drinking.
Eggnog, the Christmas special
As we enter the holiday season (I am positively embracing December like a warm hug!) the ever-popular cocktail — Eggnog— comes to mind. Eggs and dairy make up the bulk of this traditional holiday ‘spirited’ drink — culinary historians would clock it back to the medieval ages of Britain when the drink was called Posset. Spirit was used to curdle milk and then spiced to cure the ’flu. By the 13th century, monks were known to drink a posset with milk, cream, spices, egg, sugar, and fortified wine.
Today, Eggnog is popular worldwide as a warming winter drink but also had cold. It is tricky to make, as consuming raw eggs is sometimes unsafe. They are typically tempered with dairy on a low flame, mixed into the spirit, and served cooled down.
I saddled up with Yangdup Lama, co-founder of Sidecar (#26 on The World’s Best Bar list) who sometimes uses dairy in his creations. “Dairy in cocktails plays a prominent role in modern-day cocktail making. It is largely reserved for dessert cocktails, helping it balance sweetness, and lending a creamy texture whilst bringing out an opaqueness,” he says.
He shows us how to make a traditional Eggnog, while I intervene and give it a fun Indian twist.
Chai Spiced Eggnog by Yangdup Lama
Ingredients
1 whole egg
1 tsp sugar
60ml full fat milk
60ml cream
60ml masala chai* infusion
45ml bourbon or whisky
Nutmeg and cinnamon for garnish
Block of ice
Method
Divide egg white and yolk. Whisk egg white with sugar till foamy, light whisk yolks, and fold into egg white mix.
Mix in milk, cream, and masala chai infusion and temper the egg, stirring frequently on a low flame in a saucepan. It will lightly thicken (do not let it turn to custard). Cool on ice.
In a cocktail glass, add a cube or sphere of ice. Pour bourbon over it.
Top with the eggnog mix you prepared and garnish with a few gratings of nutmeg and cinnamon.
Masala Chai Infusion by Nikhil Merchant
Ingredients
1 tsp Orange Pekoe Tea (Mumbri Chai Patti)
2 green cardamoms
1 black cardamom
1/4” cinnamon
2 cloves
6 peppercorns
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/2” fresh ginger
1.5 cup water
Method
Heat water in a saucepan with fresh ginger.
Crush the dry spices together with a pestle in a mortar, drop it into the water. Let boil for a couple minutes or till the water has reduced to about a cup. Add the loose tea and boil for two minutes. Strain and use the infusion.
Round-the-year Dairy Cocktails
White Russian
A predecessor to Black Russian which is a classic made using vodka and sweet coffee liquor served over ice, White Russian is made by adding cream to tame the sweetness of the liquor and the sharpness of vodka. The cream is usually added as a float to mix in, giving the illusion of a striking contrast of black and white.
Tom and Jerry
While this classic winter drink is usually enjoyed in places which are serenely cold — imagine cosy wood cabins or snowed in days — it is very similar to an eggnog, but boozier, heartier, and served warm. It’s been a staple for winter, especially as it uses rum and brandy as a base, warm milk, and a spiced egg ‘batter’ to give it body.
Bushwacker
Think adult milkshake. This blended beauty is a boozy version of a milkshake with a side of sunny beaches and balmy seas. A tropical delight, Bushwackers are made by blending dark rum, coffee, and chocolate liqueurs with coconut cream and milk over ice. This heavy, frothy drink makes for a wonderful afternoon tipple.
Grasshopper
Why should shooters be left behind? Right? This party favourite across the planet is a spiked interlude to a night of revelry. While shots (or shooters) are usually reserved to start a fun evening, grasshoppers are perfect for those post-meal party drink. Using White Creme de Cacao and Creme de Menthe, this vibrantly hued drink is shaken over ice with cream to balance out the minty flavours and shot down.
Cream liqueurs
Don’t feel like mixing anything up? We round up our boozy dairy’s with these shelf-ready bottles of cream based liqueurs — perfect to pour over ice or chilled from the fridge for a straight drink
- Bailey’s Irish cream: A popular favourite.
- Amarula Cream: A cream-based liqueur using a South African fruit.
- Tequila Rose: A unique blend of tequila with strawberry cream.
- Rumchata: A Latin American boozy version of Horchata
(Nikhil Merchant, currently residing in Los Angeles is a Mumbai born food expert, restaurateur & writer (Nonchalant Gourmand) who strives to wed the flavours of food to the myriad moods of life.)
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