How does clarified milk work when brewing coffee with milk?

Clarified milk is made by adding an acidic substance such as lemon juice to milk so casein proteins separate into curds, which are then filtered out. What remains is a clear, water-like liquid that still carries whey protein, lactose, minerals and water-soluble vitamins. It appeared at the 2021 World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship but has not spread widely in the coffee market.

The technique, historically called milk washing, dates to the late seventeenth century. Because the added acid stays in the liquid, the result tastes slightly sour, so the test compared it three ways: plain, added to espresso, and sweetened to neutralize the acidity. Few specialty coffee shops currently use it, mainly for signature drinks and innovative ingredients.

At the 2021 World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, clarified milk made a stunning debut, but it still hasn't entered the coffee market on a large scale, only occasionally being encountered in a few specialty coffee shops. How exactly is this "milk" that looks as clear as water made? And what would a latte made with it taste like? Front Street Coffee decided to experiment personally, starting from the principles of milk clarification, step by step making transparent milk with lemon juice and milk, then trying three methods: drinking it directly, adding it to espresso, and adding sugar to neutralize the acidity, for a comprehensive evaluation of the true flavor of clarified milk lattes. If you're interested in coffee signature drinks and innovative ingredients, this hands-on test record will give you straightforward answers.

At the 2021 World Coffee in Good Spirits Championship, clarified milk appeared on stage as an innovative ingredient. Although milk is an essential partner for coffee, clarified milk did not quickly become popular in the coffee market as expected; currently only a small number of coffee shops use it.

So, Front Street is also curious: what exactly does a latte made with clarified milk taste like? No problem! Today we're going to make a "transparent" latte ourselves and personally taste its flavor. Milk Clarification Technique The core principle of clarifying milk is to use acidic substances to change the state of protein particles in milk. Milk protein is mainly composed of a large amount of casein and a small amount of whey protein. When casein encounters acidic substances, it separates from the whole, forming independent curds and precipitating out. At this point, use a filtering tool to remove the precipitate, and what remains is clear, transparent milk. In fact, this technique appeared as early as the late seventeenth century, and its professional name is "milk washing."

What is the difference between clarified milk and regular milk? What is mainly filtered out is most of the protein. Essentially, there is no fundamental difference between the two, because the separated translucent liquid contains whey protein, water-soluble vitamins, lactose, minerals, and the additionally added acidic substances.

As is well known, the filtered transparent milk will carry a slight sourness due to the extra acidic substances. So in this experiment, one portion of the transparent milk we made will have 30g of white granulated sugar added to neutralize the sourness, to see how the result differs. How is milk "washed"? Good question! First, pour it into the washing machine... and then...

Just kidding. First, take any acidic fruit, such as lemon, orange, pineapple, grapes... and squeeze it into juice.

Next, heat the milk. Heated milk makes it easier for the protein to form curds and precipitate.

Mix milk and lemon juice in a 10:1 ratio (this experiment uses 200ml milk and 20ml lemon juice), pour into a container, then refrigerate for 10 minutes to allow the casein to separate fully.

Use filter paper to filter out the protein that has turned into a "tofu pudding" texture.

It seems Ahua next door also wants to give it a try? It takes about 20 minutes, yielding about 150ml of transparent milk.

Production complete~

Tasting Time First, taste the clarified milk directly: it smells faintly of milkiness, and as expected, because of the presence of acidic substances, it tastes rather sour overall, with a body slightly thicker than water.

Then the transparent latte made by adding espresso: it tastes very full in acidity, as if it were a rather sour Americano.

Finally, the transparent latte with white granulated sugar added: with the sugar balancing it, the sourness and sweetness reach equilibrium, and it tastes like coffee with a lemon tea flavor.

Overall, clarified milk is not suitable for being added directly to espresso or drunk directly; it requires some blending to become a well-liked signature drink. (It's also possible that it was because Front Street used lemon; everyone can try making it with other fruits.)

Finally, here is a very soothing espresso moment~

, duration 00:38

PS: This high-appearance latte will not be served at Front Street stores.

- END - Front Street Coffee

No. 10 Baoqian Street, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.