How to Clarify with Milk or Coconut

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Go to thld.co/zbiotics_educatedbarfly_0223 and get 15% off your first order of ZBiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic by using my code EDUCATEDBARFLY at checkout. Thanks to ZBiotics for sponsoring today’s video!

[@meerlux1174]

what happened tot he old title? i had a good laugh but now its gone :(

[@klefdnb]

Where's the link to cooks illustrated???

[@urouroniwa]

About the temperature of milk: The higher the temperature, the less acid you need to curdle the milk. At room temperature you need a pH of about 4.6 (think yogurt). At 50 C (121 F) you need a pH of about 5.1 (think mozzarella cheese). At 85 C (185 F) you need a pH of 6.1 (think ricotta cheese). 4.6 tastes *quite* sour. 5.1 is just tart. 6.1 still tastes sweet. The temperature you want depends on how tart you want your milk punch.

[@darrenshan76]

This is so interesting! Would milk not burn at 85C? Is it actually sweet? I thought that's why baristas don't steam milk to over 55C. Thanks for sharing!

[@urouroniwa]

@@darrenshan76 As long as the heat you are putting into it is not too high, it won't burn. When I'm making good ricotta, it takes me about an hour to get up to 85 C :-). And, yes, it's *very* sweet. Milk has a lot of lactose in it. Lactose isn't as sweet as table sugar, but if you tune your taste buds you can really tell it is quite sweet -- especially if you compare it to something like yogurt (where the lactose has mostly been consumed by the bacteria).

[@nicholasgraves3149]

Well the ratio of sugar to citrus would determine how tart the milk punch is, not the temperature of the milk. The milk is going to curdle regardless of its temperature unless it's near frozen. I find hotter milk curdles too quickly and you get huge chunks of solid instead of the nice and even web distribution that you're looking for. A thin but even web has much more surface area than big thick solid chunks, and gets a clearer product in the end in my experience. I've tried straight from the fridge, room temperature, and hot but not simmering whole milk for various punches, and the room temperature one produces the best result in my experience.

[@urouroniwa]

@@nicholasgraves3149 The *perception* of sourness is dependent upon sugar content. The *actual* acidity does not. Milk curdles when casein hits its "isoelectric point". That's a fancy word for saying when it has an overall zero charge. The pH when it hits that point is dependent on temperature. I don't have good numbers here but basically at 85 C milk will curdle at a pH of about 6.1. At about 50 C it will curdle at a pH of about 5.3. At 20 C it will curdle at about 4.9. I wish I had a good reference for this. However, you can check it for yourself. Get some milk. Add enough vinegar until the milk just tastes tart, but before it curdles. Then heat the milk. You will find that it curdles. If you want to verify it further, measure how much acid you added and try again, using less acid. You will find that you need to increase the temperature to get it to curdle. This is a super useful thing to know when making acid coagulated cheeses because temperature affects a lot of things when making cheese. Anyway, when I found out about this (from Gianaclis Caldwell's amazing book, "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking"), it blew my mind. I hope you'll find it similarly mind blowing :-)

[@djestouff]

@@nicholasgraves3149ya I’ve also found room temp to clarify the best, but it sounds like if we heat the milk more *and reduce the acid* in our recipes we could still get a nice small curd with less acid flavor present in the final product

[@panulli4]

Thanks for including the coconut clarification. It has always been a bit mysterious to me, since it's not that common. I'll definitely give it a try! :)

[@brandon-shreds]

I'm participating in a cocktail contest at my work tomorrow, and am preparing a Valentine's Day-themed clarified milk punch for 30-40 people. Thank you for creating multiple videos on the topic that helped me come up with a recipe that I like a lot!

[@TheLiefyGreens]

Great video, also as a bartender i’ve had every hangover preventative on the market and Zbiotics is the truth

[@aginsfbayarea7350]

Thank you for clarifying the topic for me. I now have a much clearer understanding. 😊

[@gabrielaarrufat8078]

love the puns

[@andrewcerrato6390]

Thank you for this video! I made a Gunpowder Punch and wanted to attempt to clarify it with coconut milk. The result was a bit opaque, I wasn't sure if I had done it properly, as I did you use coconut milk, not coconut cream. But this was absolutely helpful.

[@natasha5306]

Great video, thanks for this. I'm now reading about it, and it's super nerdy :) There seems to be a lot you can achieve with this process.

[@ogreenius]

Love seeing this test including coconut cream! I'd be curious to see a recipe for a clarified cocktail *specifically* using coconut cream for the coconut flavor, e.g. some kind of rum drink, etc.

[@dtpugliese318]

Clarified piña colada is already a thing, but a painkiller would be nice clarified too

[@ogreenius]

@@dtpugliese318 Indeed! Although ironically the clarified Piña Colada doesn't use coconut cream but regular milk 😄 Would be curious about a coconut milk version of that, even.

[@richardtanyamusgrove3682]

@@ogreenius my thoughts exactly - i did a milk clarified Pina colada & was a bit disappointed that the flavour of the clarified version was a lot different to the real thing - it needed more coconut flavour - now I’m gonna try using coconut cream…

[@MichaelDao100]

@@richardtanyamusgrove3682 Would love to hear how that turned out!

[@fretless05]

A coffee page on KZbin did an experiment of making a coffee based amaro using a whip cream maker to pressurize the mixture to infuse the alcohol with the flavors quickly. It involved several phases of pressurizing and releasing and then had a final milk clarification step and filtration to help get rid of the solids of coffee, botanicals, and bittering agents. It's an interesting technique, but I had a lot of problems filtering through a coffee filter. Maybe if I try again, I'll try the bar towel and see if it is less prone to clogging!

[@BlankIdea02]

My partner has a life threatening dairy allergy, but with this I'll be able to make her clarified cocktails

[@SanTM]

I do love a coconut note in many of my drinks. In fact I love coconut in anything. I'm going to try make this as have never clarified before

[@ChainerSeraphim]

Great video, I'll put the coconut cream clarifications to good use with a Pisco Punch. Curious though on the time to filter the curdled drinks. How did the whole milk compare to coconut cream for complete filtration?

[@shaneburgess3505]

This is great, thank you! I recently had a clarified zombie and was wondering what the process was, and how to do it myself. Great stuff, as always!!!

[@Perraychingona]

Could you make a video going over various methods on how to clarify cocktails?

[@gregsoucie]

Very cool. I've wanted to try clarification for some time and this gives me some confidence. Can I add some egg white and shake the clarified drink for some foaminess?

[@ChristianWeitenberner]

Thanks for clarifying this process for us. I'm excited to try the coconut method with an Ancient Marine 🏴‍☠️.

[@Drauth9]

Really helpful to see a version that isn't 4+ cups final volume! Is there a specific ratio of milk / acid / spirit that is generally considered best? Or does it just depend on the drink and/or recipe? Thanks!

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

You want to make sure that the milk/coconut is at least 1/4 of the volume of the full batch cocktail

[@Drauth9]

@@TheEducatedBarfly good to know, thank you so much!

[@ogreenius]

Yeah, you can definitely clarify individual cocktails! It's just such a long process (which is almost entirely waiting, not "active") that it often makes more sense to do it in bulk so you don't wait an hour for just one drink. Plus the fact that it's long-term fridge stable makes it sensible to also just make yourself a bunch of whatever delicious thing you're creating. 😁

[@johndracy]

@@TheEducatedBarfly Could you do this with any cocktail? say like a Naked and Famous, Tom Collins, Margarita etc.

[@user-ln1up9xi4k]

@@johndracy Yes as long as it has an acid component. I made a clarified trinidad sour and a couple others, always successful.

[@thecruddybug4437]

Oh damn I used to drink Hepalyse in Japan, supposed to do the same thing as the Zbiotics stuff (maybe it's the same thing). Cool to see that the west is getting that.

[@27dcx]

I feel like this would be really cool to try with some really bitters forward tropical style drinks like a trinidad sour, lion's tail, or my favorite - queens park hotel super cocktail

[@metangas5]

Coconut milk clarification is awesome for jungle birds

[@Greedman456]

You may also do it with a positive electric charge haha😅. When you acidify the milk, the casein proteins lose their negative charge and bundle together instead of keeping each other in a distance thus curdling occurs!! (I believe the charge of the proteins is negative but I may be mistaken)

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

🤔 this seems like a fun experiment

[@jj9363]

How do you get the ice spheres so clear? I have the same mold and mine are always cloudy

[@Rob_-_]

Does the coconut cream add a lot of sweetness?

[@gnistens]

Please, do give a lecture on milk clarification.

[@GeekPhD]

If you flavor the mink like at stuff to it beforehand will those flavor be incorporated in the cocktail

[@ryanmgeek]

Cooks illustrated link?

[@maghteridon5555]

Could someone link the video that supposed to be in the description about milk clarification>

[@nathangreenberg3683]

Could use same recipe with the coconut but use a nice rum

[@kcpeoples6130]

Is there a limit to how long the cocktail can be in the mixing glass? I know is says 20-30 minutes but can it stay in there for hours? I’m wanting to make bulk but don’t have enough equipment.

[@dtpugliese318]

What you have left in the strainer is basically whiskey sour ricotta cheese. I wonder if it would taste good.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

It’s actually really good

[@timcameron52]

Would go well in a whiskey sour lasagna

[@dtpugliese318]

@@timcameron52 i was thinking more of a ricotta pie type application

[@dtpugliese318]

@@TheEducatedBarfly give it to a friend who’s a really good cook and see what they could do with it. A whiskey sour ricotta cake would be pretty good. Maybe with an angostura glaze?

[@tikazombie37]

I wonder if it'd be possible/good to clarify an enzoni, time to add that to the to-do list

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Yes it would be possible

[@alexanderarango2507]

Can anyone tell me if the cocktail has lactose by the end? Ty!

[@cameron15911]

Does anyone know if i can add cacao nibs or something to this process to give a small flavor or essense of chocolate for a fun spin on an old fashioned or Manhattan? Can i also filter more than once? Pros/cons?

[@TheDeadmanTT]

You don't HAVE to use coconut milk. There's a lot of dairy free alternatives today. Personally, I think coconut milk always has a strong coconut flavour (shocking! I know) But you can try soy milk, oat milk (My favourite), cashew milk . . . See what you you can find! It's fun to try new things!

[@panulli4]

But do all these other milks also curdle like coconut milk? I‘d love to try some of those.

[@TheDeadmanTT]

From my experience, coconut milk curdles a lot in storage. Soy milk curdles in warm/hot liquid. Like coffee or tea. I have not seen much/any curdling in oat or other nut milks. But brands are different and I haven't tried them all.

[@JC-wv7om]

@@panulli4 The key thing to look for is the milk's fat content. Below about 4%, it's not going to clarify very well (or at all at below about 3%). If it's easy for you to find, you can play around with adding rennet-in theory (not something I've tried, going off of basic cheese making here) it should work.

[@maplekillas04]

i've had some success with clarifying using off the shelf oat milk. the full fat ones seem to work well (Chobani Extra Creamy or Oatly Full Fat)

[@panulli4]

@@TheDeadmanTT Thanks for your reply! I guess, I'll start experimenting then! :)

[@joelspangenthal9741]

The question no one can answer! Haha Whats the shelf life in fridge and counter for a clarified cocktail?!

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

It’s shelf stable when stored in a cool dry place. I put mine in the fridge but you don’t need to

[@Diego-jd9es]

Do you need to add citrus to clarify the cocktail in order for it to work? Bc I’ve seen videos of people clarifying Negronis without any citrus?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

You can clarify spirits that have high tannins because the tannins will break the milk. So you can do it with certain teas or spirits aged in oak

[@Urotsukidoji1]

your specs are different in the description compared to on screen (milk and coconut amounts)

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

That’s weird lol let me check

[@LiquidArtist-0]

Is it working with soy milk ?

[@klefdnb]

It's really annoying when someone says: I'll put the link below and they don't do it.

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Ooops my bad. www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/articles/7648-the-key-to-crystal-clear-cocktails-milk#

[@joshuaasepgasli5322]

What about Heavy cream?

[@rudycordero8895]

Can you do one with soy milk?

[@Reload7x1]

Quick question if you had to choose between monkey shoulder or famous grouse what would you pick ?

[@ebbordow2934]

Can you do this with filtered, lactose free milk?

[@JC-wv7om]

A quick search brings up a Reddit user who did it with Lactaid. His drink, like the coconut cream clarified here, was a bit cloudy but not bad. I think it'll work (more or less) as long as you don't use a fat free or low fat option.

[@nicholaschau9127]

Is there a minimum amount or ratio of acid to milk necessary?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Milk should be 1/4 volume of the entire cocktail batch

[@drkjoneill]

Is there fat left in the clarified cocktail, or is it all filtered out?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

It’s filtered out I believe

[@drkjoneill]

@@TheEducatedBarfly thanks. Love the channel, btw. I just discovered it last month and I’m subscribed, and getting caught up in the hundreds I’ve not seen. My friends think I’m a genius with the acid-adjusted pineapple juice mai tai…. Watching your videos is a highlight in my week. While I don’t drink much at all, I love creating and you have provided lots of info and inspiration.

[@joelmarfori8097]

HELLO SIR...MAY I ASK CAN I USE CHOCOLATE MILK INSTEAD OF MILK?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Yes you can

[@joelmarfori8097]

@@TheEducatedBarfly thank u so much. Godbless

[@P4me4ever]

Soy milk works as good as normal milk

[@liquidchef1]

Didnt you pour the milk into the booze just a few episodes ago? Guess you went back and corrected yourself and are now doing it correctly

[@keirkeirkeir1]

Awesome! Can you do fat washing next?

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

Hell yeah why not?

[@ssmbatyan]

OG

[@JohnDoe-vc5qb]

So can you clarify any drink? Imma clarify a gin and tonic just for shits and gigs 😂

[@MatthewBlackwell1015]

I've had mixed experiences clarifying different things. Tried to clarify a margarita and it had an odd taste to it and gin loses all it's bright floral-ness when you add all those deeper protein flavors in. It's worked best for me with Whiskey, rum, or brandy-based cocktails (that have a decent acid component already).

[@ogreenius]

Whatever recipe you clarify has to have some component that will curdle the milk, either an acid or, as Leandro points out, tannins (in black tea). Rennet is another option for non-citrus drinks which works just fine but will be a special order for most people (unless you make cheese at home!).

[@Mark723]

If I wanted to mix science with my drinking, I'd drink something besides Bud Light...

[@peterjuncker8488]

How did you end up on this channel lol

[@TheEducatedBarfly]

😂

[@reggeckmann3993]

Quit trying to veganafy everything. If Dairy and milk IS better use it! lol

[@stevenjacobs2750]

It's nice to be able to serve stuff for people who can't have dairy. Quit trying to keep people from growing! If a technique can be altered to allow for more people to enjoy a good cocktail why not have that in the canon?

[@independentmind7782]

Quit telling people what to do.

[@reggeckmann3993]

I'm from a dairy farm, I don't substitute.