Black Tea and Port Milk Punch

Today’s cocktail recipe is perfect for an old fashioned Christmas party… like a party attended by the Founding Fathers! I received this recipe from Cook’s Science and of course I tweaked the recipe by substituting hard to find ingredients to easier sourced ones while twisting the flavor profile slightly. I am sure the title has you intensely curious (as well as slightly grossed out at the thought of a ‘milk punch’ cocktail), but trust me please. The use of milk in this ‘punch’ is to clarify the cocktail to an incredibly clear light pink hue. The flavor of this cocktail is sublime – just sweet enough, slightly spiced with a hint of citrus from the tea, ‘punch’ from the rum, and fullness from the port. You will want to share this cocktail, so make a double batch as it takes some time to make.

Now it is time to hoist a glass of cheer with good friends and close family, may I suggest you hoist this delectable cocktail punch?

Save Print

Black Tea and Port Milk Punch

Prep time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients

1 cup of whole milk
2 cups of brewed orange spice black tea
⅔ cup dark rum
⅔ cup ruby port
⅓ cup white sugar
⅓ cup lemon juice

Instructions

Add the milk to a large 8 cup measuring cup and set aside.
In a 4 cup measuring cup, combine the tea, rum, port, sugar and lemon juice.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the tea mixture to the milk and gently stir the fine curds with a spoon.
Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes or refrigerate covered for up to 1 day.
Place a fine mesh sieve fitted with a paper coffee filter over a large bowl or measuring cup.
Slowly pour the punch mixture into the sieve/filter to strain the milk curds out.
Pour the punch mixture through the filtered curds a second time for maximum clarity.
Toss the filter and curds.
Transfer the clear punch into a glass container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

The original recipe uses straight black tea and Batavia Arrack instead of the rum. I enjoy orange spiced black tea every day, so I used it to include additional flavors. Als I found Batavia hard to find, so I substituted a dark Jamaican rum, which worked excellently.

Add the milk to a large 8 cup measuring cup and set aside. In a 4 cup measuring cup, combine the tea, rum, port, sugar and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Add the tea mixture to the milk and gently stir the fine curds with a spoon.

Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes or refrigerate covered for up to 1 day.

Place a fine mesh sieve fitted with a paper coffee filter over a large bowl or measuring cup.

Slowly pour the punch mixture into the sieve/filter to strain the milk curds out.

Pour the punch mixture through the filtered curds a second time for maximum clarity. Toss the filter and curds. Transfer the clear punch into a glass container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Save

4 COMMENTS

Roger Wright | 23rd Dec 16

Interesting
- Kent | 24th Dec 16
  
  It is delicious, I think you will like it. I’ll make a batch for Christmas Day and you can taste it for yourself!
Rhum Pirate | 26th Nov 18

Does the milk not require heating before adding? Does it even make that large a difference?
- Kent | 2nd Dec 18
  
  The milk does not require heating, it is used to produce an amazingly clear cocktail and does not add any flavor. Follow the recipe and you will see what I mean!