Getting started
Let’s not kid ourselves, New Orleans isn’t renowned as a start-the-day-early-with-lots-of- energy kind of town. Left to our own devices, we simply aren’t “morning people.” At no point during the day or night is our laid back culture more at ease than in the morning. Still, the sun is up and we’re supposed to be; how to get started is the question.

The answer is the wonderfully aromatic, silky smooth, mouth-pleasing Milk Punch. An easy to make, easy to order, beverage done with Brandy (or with Gin … and here with Rum), the Milk Punch is New Orleans’ answer to the snooze alarm. Hit it, and delay the inevitable for just a few more minutes.

If you choose to have a Milk Punch as an accompaniment to the challenges of whatever time it is, you’ll find that the recipes for making a Milk Punch are as varied and numerous as the missing flagstones in a French Quarter sidewalk.

This recipe comes from the owner of the Elixir bar in San Francisco, H. Joseph Ehrmann, who created it as his tribute to us. Thanks, Joe.

A MILK PUNCH NAMED DESIRE
Few ice cubes in a bar glass
1 1/2 oz Rhum Clemént VSOP
1 1/2 oz. Rhum Clemént Creole Shrubb
1/2 oz. Navan Vanilla Liqueur
Dusting of fresh-grated nutmeg
Dusting of fresh-grated cinnamon
Top with whole milk or half-and-half