Cocktail. Served at The Inauguration (#1).

Clarified Thai tea cocktail

Cha Tra Mue rum milk punch

This is a rum milk punch built on Cha Tra Mue Thai tea, and it's my attempt at recreating a drink I had at Bar Us in Bangkok.

You mix the tea, rum, condensed milk, evaporated milk, syrup and lime, then stir in whole milk and let it curdle on purpose. The curds trap everything cloudy, and after a slow drip through coffee filters you get a clear drink that still tastes like Thai tea.

Make it one to three days ahead and clarify overnight if you can.

Makes
About 7 to 8 cups, roughly 15 drinks
Time
1 to 3 days ahead
Do ahead
1 to 3 days. Clarify overnight if you can.

Ingredients

Scale

Thai tea base

  • 6 cupswater
  • 15 tbspCha Tra Mue Thai tea mix (2.5 tbsp per cup)

Cocktail mix (before clarification)

  • 6 cupsbrewed Thai tea, cooled
  • 2¼ cupsPlantation 3 Stars rum
  • ½ cupcondensed milk
  • 6 tbspevaporated milk
  • ½ cupsimple syrup, or to taste
  • ¾ cupfresh lime juice
  • 1.5 cupswhole milk (for clarification only)

Method

  1. Boil the water and take it off the heat.
  2. Add the tea mix. Stir, cover and steep 3 to 5 minutes, closer to 5.
  3. Strain through a fine mesh or a coffee filter. No particles should get through.
  4. Cool completely to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.
  5. In a large pitcher, combine the tea, rum, condensed milk, evaporated milk, simple syrup and lime juice. Whisk until the condensed milk is fully mixed in.
  6. Add the whole milk. Stir gently for 30 seconds. It will curdle. That's what you want.
  7. Cover. Leave 2 to 4 hours at room temperature, or refrigerate overnight.
  8. Strain very gently through coffee filters set over a fine mesh, or through cheesecloth. Do not break the curds. Give it 30 to 60 minutes. It should come through clear. If it's cloudy, strain it again.
  9. Bottle and keep in the fridge until you pour it.

Notes

  • You can use coconut nectar in place of the simple syrup.