“Milk punches can be a culinary obstacle for most, but it’s actually not that difficult when you have the right equipment and a good formula,” says bartender Diego Peña of the cocktail that is typically a time-consuming undertaking. In other words, if you have a cheesecloth, you can clarify your milk punch.

In the last decade, centrifuges may have simplified the task, but separating milk solids from the liquid is no modern-day invention—it dates back to the 1700s. “The process of clarifying removes color as well as tannins, leading to a rounded and rich drink without the heaviness of dairy,” explains Ryan Chetiyawardana, of the boundary-pushing Lyan bars in London. The versatile technique can be used in everything from a classic brandy milk punch to a winterized take on the Piña Colada. Practically any cocktail can go clear—from nonalcoholic drinks to tropical favorites like the Mai Tai and Piña Colada.

Stovetop Method

For most bartenders, the preferred at-home technique calls for gently heating milk over the stove before straining out the solids that form as the water content evaporates. New Orleans bartender Alex Anderson uses this technique, drawing upon Scandinavian flavors in her Nordic Honey Punch, which incorporates herbal-inflected aquavit and an aromatic garnish of dill. Boston’s Eastern Standard, meanwhile, takes inspiration from a London Fog (essentially an Earl Grey tea latte) with his Fog Lights Milk Punch, which calls for a warming blend of bourbon, brandy and rum alongside Earl Grey syrup.

“I find that most milk punches are on the wintry end of the spectrum—lots of rum, brandy and whiskey, with cloves and nutmeg,” says Matt Piacentini of The Up & Up in Manhattan, noting that those flavors typically work in tandem with the heavy, smooth textures that the milk punch application contributes to drinks. But veering away from the familiar, Piacentini’s Disco Volante is built on a foundation of Aperol and gin, reading more like a bracing, herbal aperitif with the added roundness of a milk punch.

Heatless Method

At Mister Paradise in New York’s East Village, bartender Will Wyatt opts for a heatless technique akin to the first milk punches of the 18th century: He allows milk and lime juice to mingle until the mixture curdles on its own, then strains out the curds. He adds this to a reduced Coca-Cola syrup and Ceylon tea in the rum-based Sex Panther, a complex twist on the Cuba Libre that Wyatt describes as possessing “the same heart and soul” as the original. Dallas bartender Eric Simmons takes a similar approach in his play on the New York Sour, the Diamond Noir, where the entire drink is filtered through heavy cream.

Also forgoing the stovetop method, Chetiyawardana opts for yogurt whey (the watery result of straining full-fat yogurt for half an hour) to add richness in his wintry Whey Punch. Mixed with Scotch, maple syrup and rooibos tea, Chetiyawardana says that it maintains the spirit of a clarified milk punch despite the fast-tracked method, noting: “It still manages to get the silkiness you want to drink.”

Milk Powder Method

While milk punch typically needs an acid to curdle the milk, Daniel Villa, bartender at Supperland in Charlotte, North Carolina, created an alternative method to clarify any drink using rehydrated powdered milk—no citrus juice necessary. That means drinks like a Vieux Carré can be clarified without lime or lemon, and with an added benefit: Milk powder can be toasted before rehydrating, resulting in a cocktail that tastes “simultaneously milk-punched and brown-butter fat-washed,” according to Villa.

Nondairy Method

For those who don’t consume dairy, coconut or soy milk punch can be an alternative. According to Deepali Gupta, of Sidecar in New Delhi, which serves a coconut milk–clarified Piña Colada, the relatively low fat content in coconut milk means that clarifying with the ingredient yields a lower-volume drink. The bar sometimes adds coconut oil to the milk in order to increase the fat. Ezza Rose, bar consultant and educator behind Good Spirits PDX, has had success using extra-thick soy milk (she likes Pacific Foods Ultra Soy). Like Gupta, she notes that nondairy clarification tends to take longer: It’s “time-consuming; set aside a weekend.” For her method, soy milk is heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, combined with a batched cocktail that’s refrigerated for 48 hours, then strained twice through a nut-milk bag. As with any method, nondairy clarification requires experimentation to get the right ratios and consistencies. For a faster alternative, Villa uses his powdered method with coconut milk powder in a tequila and coffee–based drink called the Careful Cat, and says that the process is largely the same as with whole milk.

Single-Ingredient Method

A final technique takes the milk punch approach and applies it only to a particular spirit, like vodka, rather than an entire cocktail. Where clarifying a drink as a whole can soften the acidity of fresh citrus and tropical juices, using a milk-washed spirit instead imparts richness without stripping away that bright flavor. This step, writes Punch contributor and drinks expert Jack Schramm, “can take just about any shaken drink to the next level.”