White Lotus

White Lotus is a tiki drink that transports you to a serene vacation resort in Thailand. Bursting with the fresh flavors of pineapple, Cara Cara orange, and lime, this drink is fortified with Nixta liqueur and balanced with a touch of Aperol for a hint of tartness. What sets it apart is the silky-smooth mouthfeel achieved through milk clarification, using pecan shortbread-infused milk. At just 7% ABV, it’s the perfect low-proof sipper for all-day indulgence.

Topped with a whimsical garnish of honey, Fruity Pebbles, and pineapple fronds, the White Lotus is as stunningly beautiful as it is delicious.

Batching and Clarification

This cocktail is ideal for batching, as the milk clarification process extends its shelf life for up to a month when refrigerated. Don’t hesitate to scale up your recipe to enjoy it at your leisure.

Clarification is a two-step process: first, craft a cocktail with well-balanced flavors, then refine it through milk clarification. While this technique won’t salvage a poorly conceived one, it can enhance a well-made drink and make it exceptional.

For the White Lotus, the goal was a pineapple-forward, low-alcohol cocktail with a smooth finish. Finding the perfect combination takes some trial and error—trust your palate. Once you’ve created your ideal blend, scale it up from a quart to a gallon for effortless enjoyment.

The Process

Clarifying a cocktail takes more time than simply shaking or stirring a margarita or martini, which is why it’s best to batch it in larger quantities—do it once and enjoy it for weeks.

The key ingredient here is full-fat whole milk. Alternatives like almond or skim milk won’t yield the crystal-clear result we’re after, instead, they remain cloudy. While plain whole milk works perfectly, you can elevate the flavor by infusing it with bread, cereal, or cookies.

For the White Lotus, I infused the milk with pecan shortbread, a nostalgic nod to a favorite childhood treat. The process is simple:

1. Place the cookies in a jar and cover them with milk
2. Let the mixture sit overnight
3. In the morning, strain out the solids and pass the milk through a fine mesh sieve to remove any remaining particles

For proper clarification, the milk should make up 25% of the batch cocktail volume—a 4:1 ratio. That means if you’re making a gallon of base cocktail, you’ll need a quart of milk for the process.

The Chemistry of Clarification

Milk clarification is a centuries-old technique, dating back to the 1700s and you can clarify anything. It works by softening flavors and transforming a cocktail into a silky, creamy smooth drink. The process relies on casein—a protein in milk that binds to phenolic compounds, stripping them away. This is achieved by introducing acid to the milk, causing it to curdle, then carefully filtering out the curds to reveal a clarified, refined drink.

The key to a successful clarification is ensuring the cocktail has enough acid, which can be achieved in one of three ways. The simplest method is using naturally acidic ingredients like lemon, lime, or other citrus fruits. Since the White Lotus isn’t a particularly acidic drink, we have two options to correct this.

One approach is adding a citric acid solution, which enhances bright citrus notes—perfect if you want a more vibrant, zesty profile. However, I opted for a lactic acid solution, which provides the necessary acidity without altering the cocktail’s flavor, keeping it smooth and balanced.

Final Steps

Have everything ready before you combine the batch cocktail and milk, because once you start there is no going back!

Choose a vessel large enough to contain both the milk and the batch cocktail. Pour in the prescribed amount of milk, then gradually pour in the batched cocktail. Do not pour the milk into the cocktail because it will shock the milk into an incomplete solution.

If it doesn’t begin to curdle immediately, add a teaspoon of the lactic acid solution. Give it a gentle stir. Add another teaspoon of solution if necessary. It will curdle when the solution is acidic enough to react with the milk. It’s not a pretty sight, but is critical to the process.

Cover tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours to give it time to complete curdling and begin to separate. Strain through a cheesecloth covered mesh sieve. Finish clarification by straining through a coffee filter, then bottle and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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