http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/dining/the-milk-punch-revival.html 2014-12-21 06:49:34 The Milk Punch Revival The newly popular version of milk punch is a clear drink, not a creamy one. === Who says bartenders aren’t looking out for our health? Lately, a fair number seem dead earnest in making sure that patrons get their daily allowance of calcium. Milk punch, a sweet, cold, elegant blend of dairy and liquor that dates back centuries, has become a hot item on bar menus across the nation. A California milk punch, which typically calls for rum, spices and a rumlike spirit called Punch House These drinks are not creamy, like the brandy or bourbon milk punches common in New Orleans; they are clarified elixirs. Cold ingredients are combined with hot milk so that the milk curdles; the blend is filtered repeatedly until the liquid becomes clear. This can take hours. Then, typically, the punch rests for a day or so until served. If you don’t have the time, you don’t have this punch. But bartenders are taking the time, often in response to popular demand. “There’s almost a cult following,” said Naomi Levy, the assistant bar manager at Eastern Standard. “I have regulars who request I let them know when the next milk punch will be.” Still, introducing the drink to the uninitiated can be a hard sell, said William Duncan, the beverage director of Punch House. “The idea of mixing dairy and alcohol is just a little off-putting to most folks,” he said. Once a customer signs on, however, “the clarified milk leads to an ‘aha’ moment, like, ‘There’s Michael Simonetti, a regular at Betony, had that very experience when he ordered his first punch. “I was shocked by it, how clear it was,” he said. The taste was even more revelatory. “It has a smooth, weird silkiness to it,” he said. Eamon Rockey, an owner of Betony, first encountered milk punch at In a typical milk punch, the ingredients are combined beforehand. But Mr. Rockey creates a milk punch “base,” then lets the drinker choose a spirit to marry it with. “I wanted to have there be a guest-specific evolution,” he said. “It’s antithetical to what the drink classically is.” But it’s a heresy that works. Mr. Simonetti started ordering milk punch after he read on the menu that he could pick his own poison. Making milk punch is “not Recipe: