Ruby Port Milk Punch

Here is a unique drink that is fun to prepare and delicious to drink. It is a combination of port, black tea, lemon juice, and something called Batavia Arrack, a funky cane sugar based rum-like liquor. It's worth shopping around online to find a bottle. Weird as it seems to have milk in a cocktail, the curds of the milk help absorb the bitter tannins from the tea. Once they're filtered out at the end, the clarified mixture is a beautiful rosé-like color. I stumbled across this from a site called The Splendid Table.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups brewed black tea
• 2/3 cup Batavia Arrack
• 2/3 cup ruby port
• 1/3 cup plus 4 teaspoons (3 ounces) sugar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice

Instructions

1. Place milk in a large pitcher and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk tea, Batavia Arrack, port, sugar, and lemon juice until sugar dissolves.
2. Pour tea mixture into milk. Gently stir curds with small spoon. Let sit for at least 30 minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
3. Line fine-mesh strainer with a cheese cloth and set over large bowl. Gently pour tea-milk mixture through cloth and let drain. Keep the curds in the cheese cloth, and pour the punch mixture through the cheese cloth one more time; the curds in the cheese cloth will help filter out more curds. 
4. Run the mixture through a coffee filter a few time to filter our the residual curds. Transfer the clarified punch to a glass container and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pour into a glass with a clear ice cube.

Makes 4 cups.