Quick answer
Sri Lankan milk wine is a traditional Christmas drink made by mixing arrack with milk, sugar, citrus juice and spices, letting the milk curdle, and straining the mixture until it runs clear. It contains no grape wine. The result is a golden, sweet, lightly spiced liqueur of roughly 15 to 20 per cent alcohol, served in small glasses with Christmas cake. It is associated with the island's Burgher and wider Christian communities and is a local form of clarified milk punch.
Key takeaways
- Sri Lankan milk wine is made from arrack, milk, sugar, citrus and spices, and contains no grape wine.
- The milk curdles on contact with citrus and alcohol, and straining out the curds leaves a clear, silky liquid.
- Milk wine is a Christmas tradition linked to Sri Lanka's Burgher and other Christian families.
- Milk wine is a form of clarified milk punch, a technique recorded in Europe from the early eighteenth century.
- Home-made milk wine is typically roughly 15 to 20 per cent alcohol and keeps for months once bottled.
What Sri Lankan milk wine is
Sri Lankan milk wine is a home-made liqueur, prepared in the weeks before Christmas and offered to every visitor over the season. It is clear and golden, tastes of caramel, citrus peel and warm spice, and is drunk in very small measures.
Milk wine is a puzzle of a name. The milk is real but disappears in the making, and wine here simply means a sweet alcoholic drink, as in ginger wine. Arrack is the traditional spirit, though some families use brandy.
Where milk wine comes from
Milk wine comes from the meeting of European technique and island ingredients. Clarified milk punch, in which milk is deliberately curdled in a spirit and citrus mixture and strained off, was fashionable in Britain and its colonies in the 1700s because it kept for months without spoiling.
Milk wine in Sri Lanka is most closely associated with the Burghers, the community descended from Portuguese, Dutch and other European settlers, whose kitchens also gave the island love cake, breudher and lamprais. The recipe passed into wider Christian and Colombo households, with arrack as the local spirit.
What goes into milk wine
The ingredients of milk wine vary from family to family, and every household is certain its own version is correct. A typical batch includes the following.
- →Arrack: roughly one 750 ml bottle.
- →Fresh full-cream milk: roughly 500 to 750 ml.
- →Sugar: roughly 400 to 500 g, part of it caramelised for colour.
- →Citrus: the juice and peel of limes, oranges or both.
- →Spices: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and sometimes nutmeg.
- →Optional: vanilla, raisins or a little rose water.
How milk wine is made
Making milk wine takes patience more than skill. The work is spread over several days, most of it waiting.
- →Steep the citrus peel and spices in the arrack for a day or two.
- →Dissolve the sugar, including the caramel, and add the citrus juice.
- →Bring the milk to the boil and pour it into the arrack mixture; it curdles at once.
- →Leave covered for several hours or overnight.
- →Strain through fine cloth, repeatedly and without squeezing, until clear.
- →Bottle and rest for at least a week before serving.
How milk wine is served
Milk wine is served at room temperature in small liqueur glasses, usually with Sri Lankan Christmas cake, a dense, dark fruit cake rich with cashews, preserves and spice. A glass is offered on arrival, and declining a second takes firmness.
Milk wine keeps well because the clarification removes the milk solids that would spoil. Bottles are given as gifts, and a good batch made in early December lasts through the New Year and often well beyond.
- →Glass: a small liqueur or sherry glass, roughly 30 to 40 ml.
- →Temperature: room temperature, never over ice.
- →With: Christmas cake, love cake or breudher.
Tasting milk wine on a December visit
Tasting milk wine as a visitor depends on timing and luck, since it is mainly a household drink. In December, some Colombo bakeries, church fairs and Christmas markets sell bottles, and a few hotels and cocktail bars put a clarified arrack milk punch on their festive lists.
Lankan Stays & Trails can point December travellers towards Colombo and Negombo's Christmas markets and bakeries, where milk wine, Christmas cake and love cake are sold together.
Frequently asked questions
What is milk wine in Sri Lanka?
Milk wine is a traditional Sri Lankan Christmas drink made from arrack, milk, sugar, citrus and spices. The milk curdles and is strained out, leaving a clear, golden, sweet liqueur. It is served in small glasses with Christmas cake during the festive season.
Does milk wine contain wine?
No. Milk wine contains no grape wine. The word wine is used loosely for a sweet alcoholic drink. The alcohol comes from arrack, or occasionally brandy, and the finished drink is closer to a liqueur than to wine.
Why is milk wine clear if it contains milk?
The acid in the citrus and the alcohol in the arrack make the milk proteins curdle into solids. When the mixture is strained slowly through cloth, the curds trap impurities and are left behind, and the liquid that passes through is clear and silky.
How strong is milk wine?
Home-made milk wine is usually roughly 15 to 20 per cent alcohol, depending on the proportions of arrack, milk and sugar. It is sweet and smooth, so it tastes weaker than it is, which is one reason it is served in small glasses.
Where can I buy milk wine in Sri Lanka?
Milk wine is mostly made at home. In December, bottles are sometimes sold at Christmas fairs, church sales and by home bakers in Colombo and Negombo. A few hotels and bars serve their own version over the festive season.
How long does milk wine keep?
Properly clarified and bottled, milk wine keeps for several months at room temperature and longer in a cool, dark place. Removing the milk solids is what makes it stable. Many families say it improves over the first few weeks.