- Julia Thiel
- The Brace cocktail, made with whey
When I got a promotional bottle of vodka in the mail recently (unsolicited—if I were going to solicit anything, it certainly wouldn’t be vodka), I glanced at the press release that accompanied it and did my usual eye roll at its puffed-up claims. The co-owner of the company, Broken Shed, is quoted as saying, “We wanted to create a drink that was not only enjoyable—but also better for you. The creamy origin of this vodka makes it sugar free, gluten free, and highly palatable.” The first two claims may be true (I’ll get to the third later)—but all vodka is sugar free and gluten free, unless it has sugary flavorings added after it’s been distilled.
While searching for information about whey spirits, I’d also come across a few mentions of cocktails involving whey. And, of course, I remembered that the Violet Hour’s John Smillie had created a whey cocktail for the Reader‘s Cocktail Challenge earlier this year. I would have loved to take a stab at that recipe, but I didn’t have any Pierre Ferrand 1840 cognac or Palo Cortado sherry sitting around. For that matter, I didn’t have any whey. But I did come across a recipe in a blog post by bartender Jennifer Colliau for a cocktail called the Brace that included instructions for making whey: combine milk with lime juice, let it sit until it curdles, then strain out the solids.
