I’ve never been much of a tea drinker, but I love high tea.
I love everything about high tea, from the concept of a relaxing break in the middle of the afternoon to the tiny sandwiches, petit fours, and scones with jam and homemade clotted cream. Well, I love almost everything about it…the actual tea itself I could do without.
So, imagine my delight when, vacationing in Boston a few years ago, my husband and I stopped for high tea at a restaurant near the harbor, and instead of tea we were served an incredibly delicious apple cider! I had always been a huge fan of apple cider and had made my own for years, but something was different about this cider. I had never tasted anything so smooth, rich, and flavorful. I called our waiter over and asked how such an amazing drink had been created, but he didn’t know. “I could ask the chef,” he said, “but I don’t think he’ll give away his secret.”
A minute later, our waiter returned. “The chef says it has cinnamon, anise, nutmeg, cloves, and oranges,” he reported. My face fell. I already included all those ingredients in my cider; clearly, that wasn’t the chef’s secret. Besides, I could tell just by looking at the cider that something unusual was going on. This cider was clear, almost transparent. Honestly, it looked almost like white wine.
Despite my best sweet-talking and outright begging, the chef never gave up his secret. But then, years later, I stumbled onto the answer. The chef had milk-washed his cider.
What is Milk-Washing?
Milk-washing is a technique commonly used by bartenders to give cocktails a smoother, silkier taste and mouthfeel. By adding whole milk to a drink, along with citrus or some other form of acid, you cause the milk to curdle. Curdled milk may not sound very appealing but trust me; the results are delicious! As the milk proteins coagulate, they bond with the tannins or other strong, bitter-tasting chemicals already in the drink. Then, when you strain out the milk curds, you also remove all those overly strong elements, leaving behind a light, delicate-tasting cocktail.
Or apple cider.
Or practically any drink you want to try this technique on!
Speaking of different drinks, a while ago Culinary Crafts used this milk-washing technique to make an amazing cocktail for an event. I’ll share that recipe for Cacao-Bittered & Milk-Washed Antrim here.
Eat (and drink) well!
Meagan Crafts
Milk-Washed Apple Cider
(serves 16)
Ingredients:
· 1 gallon Red Barn apple cider
· 2 oranges or 3 mandarin oranges
· 5 cinnamon sticks
· 2 TBSP ground cinnamon
· 1 TBSP ground nutmeg
· 3-5 whole star anise
· 1/2 tsp whole cloves
· 2¾ cups whole milk
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients except for milk in a large pot and bring to a simmer until fragrant.
2. Strain cider into a separate container and allow to cool.
3. Pour milk into a large container. Slowly add cooled cider to the milk as you stir gently. (It’s important that you add the cider to the milk and not the other way around! Otherwise, the milk will curdle too quickly.)
4. After milk has been added, allow mixture to sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5. Filter the mix through a fine mesh strainer to remove curds. Strain again through a rinsed paper coffee filter. The strained cider should be a pale golden color, much lighter than the original cider.
6. Garnish with apple chunks, cinnamon sticks, or both.
7. Enjoy!
Pro Tips:
Although much of the milk is removed during the straining process, some milk proteins and lactose will remain in the cider, so milk washing may not be a great idea for vegans or the lactose intolerant.
Besides adding a smooth, rich taste and mouthfeel, the milk proteins that remain in the cider after you strain out the curds provide another nifty benefit as well. If you give the cider a good shake just prior to serving, you’ll get a nice frothy head on the drink. Sprinkle a little nutmeg or cinnamon over it, and you’ll give the drink a “boogie cocktail” feel.
Milk-washed cider or milk-washed cocktails can be stored in the fridge without spoiling for months. The cider can then be reheated if you prefer to serve it hot.
Casein, the main protein in milk, will bond with astringent-tasting tannins and polyphenols in alcohol and pull those chemicals out of the drink when the curds are strained away. At the same time, the curdled casein molecules will also remove other strong-tasting chemicals, softening the taste of the beverage. You can use this fact to play around with flavors that might otherwise be overwhelming such as cacao, tea, coffee, or oak. Those flavors will remain in the drink after milk-washing, but the biting, overpowering taste and mouthfeel will be gone!
Centuries ago, there were no regulations or checks on what ingredients could be used in drinks. Consequently, many beverages on the market contained some pretty nasty components. Milk-washing was an easy, popular way to purify beverages before you drank them. Following Charles Dickens’ death, bottles of milk-washed alcohol were found in his cellar.