This drink — one of the Boothby Top 50 Drinks of the Year in 2025 — comes from Melbourne bar Waxflower and its bar manager, Margot Michat.
Milk Punch
Ingredients:
200 g icing sugar
500 g hazelnut
4L coconut cream
4 tonka bean
2 vanilla bean
2 g salt
200 g of coffee
2L water
1L of Balvenie 12
3l of Appleton Estate Jamaica rhum
600 g of sugar
200 ml of lemon juice
10 leaf of pandan
RECIPE :
1: Mix the 4L of all alcohol in a large plastic container and set aside.
2: Prepare your coffee; infuse coffee grounds with hot water. Wait 10 min and strain. Keep coffee grounds for garnish.
3 : Take your hazelnut and blend them roughly
With the blended hazelnut, toast with icing sugar in the big pot. Add the salt.
When the hazelnuts is browned well, add the coconut cream.
Add 4 grated tonka beans.
Then add the sugar, vanilla, and coffee and cook on low heat until the mixture reaches 90 degrees.
Once the mixture reaches 90°, add the lemon.
Turn off the gas and let it sit and cool.
Take the plastic box with the alcohol and combine with the cooled mixture.
Once the mixture has been combined, put the lid on the container, date it with tape, and place it in the fridge.
The next day, filter your mixture with a Super Bag. Remove the hazelnuts and put aside for garnish. Wait until the entire mixture has filtered through the Super Bag. This may take a few hours.
Sous Vide
Cook the cocktail for 2 hour at 55 degrees in a sous vide vacuum. Add the pandan branches cut into pieces, before cooking.
Once cooked, store inside the freezer to serve ice cold.
For the garnish
Ingredients:
- Coffee & Simple syrup mix (use the grounds from the first infusion)
- Hazelnut
Blend hazelnuts to make a smooth paste.
Have coffee and hazelnut in seperate squeeze bottles for easy application into the mould.
Layer coffee on the bottom of the mould. Allow for this to freeze before applying the hazelnut paste into the mould.
This creates a layered garnish of coffee and hazelnut.
To Serve
Serve in a rocks glass, on a large square of clear ice. The garnish should sit on top of the ice block.
