Recipe: Cola de mono (monkey's tail)

As a big fan of monkeys, when I come across a monkey-related recipe, I feel compelled to investigate.  Cola de mono is a Chilean holiday drink made from coffee, rum and spiced milk - a combination that seems to me a trifecta of good times.  In my investigation, most of the formulas were pretty large, which is great if you are having a party, but a bit much if you just want to make a drink or two, so I shrunk it down a bit for convenience with the intent that it is easier to multiply a recipe than divide it down.  

infuse the milk with the spice

Where some recipes brew the spices in water before mixing with the milk, I went with all milk simply because I hate watered down milk (skim milk makes me angry).  This is not a problem as long as you are gentle with the heat as you infuse the spices.  Instant coffee is also commonly used which I was ok with as I had a couple packs of Starbucks Via handy.  Not to overtly plug Starbucks (I'm not the hugest fan), but their instant coffee is actually a great product for getting quality coffee flavour into a recipe (it's great for custards) - It dissolves well, tastes good and you don't have to account for any added water as you would with brewed coffee or espresso.  The rum?  I like dark or spiced, especially around the holidays, so for this one I went with "The Kraken" black rum.  I topped it off with a bit of frothed milk and grated nutmeg for a nice layered look.

the brew

You will need:

500ml / 2C                    milk

1                                    cinnamon stick

4                                    cloves

45ml / 3Tbs                   sugar

5ml / 1tsp                      vanilla paste

15ml / 1Tbs                   instant coffee (2 packs Starbuck's Via)

60ml / 2oz                     dark or spiced rum

Method:

 - put half of the milk in a pot with the cinnamon and cloves and gently bring up the heat

 - when the milk is just below a simmer, hold it there for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat 

 - cover it and let it infuse for about 30 minutes

 - bring it back up to a gentle simmer, then whisk in the coffee and sugar and let it brew 5 minutes

 - cool completely, then strain

 - whisk in the vanilla paste

 - add the rest of the milk and the rum

 - serve chilled and garnished with frothed milk and nutmeg

Cola de mono