Clarified

What does "clarified" mean?

"Clarified" simply translates to "cleared". A clarified drink has been filtered until no suspended particles, fruit bits or cloudiness remain in the glass. The result looks deceptively clear, sometimes like water, and that is where the magic lies: the first sip tastes of ripe fruit, warm spices and a clean spirit, even though the glass gives none of it away.

So clarification is not a quality judgement and not an ingredient, it is a technique bartenders use to refine drinks and make them last longer.

How is a drink clarified?

There are several routes, and they all share one goal: pulling the haze out of the drink and keeping only the clear liquid.

• Milk clarification (milk wash): the classic. Acid, for example citrus juice, makes milk curdle. As the drink is mixed, the protein flakes bind all the suspended particles and tannins, and after straining, a crystal-clear liquid remains, the milk itself stays in the flakes, not in the drink
• Agar-agar method: the liquid is thickened with agar, a gelling agent from algae, then gelled and broken up by freezing and thawing. The solid part holds on to all the cloudiness, and whatever drips out is glass clear
• Gelatin clarification: works on the same principle as agar, just with animal gelatin
• Fine filtering: from coffee filters to bar espresso presses, the simplest form of clarification for drinks with coarse particles

What does clarification do to the flavour?

This is where it gets really interesting, because clarification is more than looks:

• The texture becomes silky and soft, almost creamy, without any cream involved
• Harshness and tannins are bound along with the particles, the drink loses its rough edges
• The aromas stay, you still clearly recognise fruit and spice
• The drink comes across as rounder and more balanced, with the ingredients blending more closely

Many guests describe a good clarified drink like this: it tastes like the soft, polished version of its counterpart, as if someone had given the drink a fine tune-up.

A side effect of milk clarification: drinks treated this way often keep longer, which is exactly why they used to be prepared in advance.

A bit of history: the milk punch

Milk clarification is not a new craft-bar invention, it is an old technique. Acidified and clarified milk punches can be traced in writing back to the 18th century, and Benjamin Franklin noted down his own milk punch recipe around 1763. The drink was popular back then because it stored well, and today it celebrates its comeback in the modern bar scene, with far more adventurous recipes than in Franklin's day.

How do you spot clarified drinks on a menu?

On modern menus they are usually announced openly, for example as a "Clarified Milk Punch", "Clarified Margarita" or "Clarified Daiquiri". If you spot a crystal-clear drink in an otherwise hazy environment, feel free to ask. Sometimes there is more in the glass than it reveals.

At our lounge

If a clarified drink ever appears on our menu or as a special: definitely try it. One of the greatest pleasure moments is when a drink that looks like water suddenly tastes of ripe pineapple, vanilla and aged rum. Ask our team at the bar if you want to know more about the technique, we love talking about it to no end.