What's a Ward 8 Cocktail? Well, it's named for a former political district in Boston, which was crucial for delivering a victory for Martin Lomasney in 1898. He had a 50 year political career as state senator, state representative. This cocktail is served with a maraschino cherry, often with the Massachusett state flag.
The Ward 8 is a whiskey sour variant. A common recipe for this cocktail is as follows:
- 2oz of rye whiskey
- 1/2 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 oz orange juice
- 1 teaspoon grenadine
ward 8 cocktail, pre-milk treatment
This is what I tried to adapt, but with this particular recipe, it's too sour. I've seen other versions with some simple syrup, or more grenadine, and it makes it significantly more palatable. All that citrus, however, and the fact that the cocktail shares a name with my friend, it makes a perfect base for a milk punch. I just sweetened it with simple syrup and oleo-saccharum to taste.
Ward Milk Punch
4 cups of bourbon (I used Evan Williams)
1 cup of lemon juice
1 cup of orange juice
1 1/2 oz of grenadine syrup
1/2 cup of simple syrup
1/4 cup of oleo-saccharum (using lemon and orange rinds)
2 cups of milk
In a large mixing bowl, combine the bourbon, lemon juice, orange juice, simple syrup, oleo-saccharum, and grenadine, and stir. Pour the milk into another container, 3 quarts in capacity. Pour the cocktail mix into the milk, while stirring . The milk will curdle.
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pre and post pour
Cover, and store in the fridge overnight. Line a mesh strainer with a coffee filter and place over a bowl or measuring cup with at least 3 quarts capacity. Slowly pour the milk punch mixture into the filter, allowing it to drain before reaching the edges of the filter. Repeat as necessary.
post filter punch
I actually let the mixture sit, and pour off the mostly clear liquid, and then strain the curd mix. Then, I take the strained, and poured off liquid and run it through the strainer/coffee filter 2-3 times. This helps compress the time needed for filtering.
The resulting milk punch is significantly mellowed out from the originating cocktail. Very tasty. The different flavors are melding making somewhat difficult to identify each component. There is a surprising bite at the end. It's really something in between a punch and a cocktail, that I believe is a function of not adding a tea or coffee mixture to recipe.
ward milk punch trio: left is made with about 1/3 of the orange juice being from a blood orange, the right is all navel oranges, and the middle is a blend of both batches
