Making Punch with Imogen Davis, Co- Founder of Native

We recently caught up with the talented Imogen Davis, co-founder of Native restaurant, situated in London’s Mayfair. As previously noted in our article; In Conversation with Imogen Davis, Native is a zero-waste eatery with a strong focus on ingredients being foraged and sourced locally.

Within this article, Imogen gets creative in making a deliciously good punch made with mushrooms! (Yes, really mushrooms!). Being a non-alcoholic beverage, this drink is perfect for Dry January – to be enjoyed over ice to infuse the wintery, warming notes of the forest and freshly ground coffee. Additionally, we also managed to sit down and share a few details with the creator herself, where we get to know her tips for making a low/no alcohol tipple to understanding her own personal inspirations.

Mushroom Milk Punch

Imogen’s clarified milk punch with mushroom coffee takes a little advance preparation, but is 100% worth the effort for a showstopper of a silky smooth, slightly earthy non-alcoholic beverage – enhanced by a sprinkle of our Maldon Salt. The reason you add a pinch of Maldon to this drink is to enhance the sweetness and counteract the bitter notes of the ground and mushroom coffee.

Ingredients:

• 10g coarsely ground coffee
• 10g mushroom powder (Imogen used nootropics adaptogenic coffee)
• 200ml water
• 10g sugar
• Pinch of Maldon Salt
• 100ml organic whole milk
• 10ml lemon juice

Method:

1. Brew the coffee, sugar and mushroom powder with 200ml boiling water, leave to infuse for a minimum 12 hours and then filter. As the mushroom powder is very fine, leave plenty of time to drip through.
2. Bring the milk to a slow boil in a saucepan over low-medium heat.
3. Once boiling, add the lemon juice and remove from heat, slowly stirring as the curds separate from the whey. Leave for 30 minutes until cool.
4. Strain the curdled milk through a fine cheesecloth into a large jug and watch the clear liquid slowly separate from the solid curds – have patience!
5. Once it has fully filtered and you have a clear liquid, stir the mushroom coffee cold brew into the whey, remove the curds from your filter and set aside to enjoy as a snack or to make a salted lassi.
6. Now reuse the cheesecloth to filter the mushroom-whey mix. You should see a very clear, golden liquid. Filter until you have the desired finish – it took Imogen three trips of drips.
7. Now to reap your rewards! Add a pinch of Maldon Salt (subbing in Smoked Salt will give a more wintery, rich notes) and 150ml of the punch mix you have made to a highball glass. Stir over ice.

Notes:

• You can batch prepare this and keep in the fridge for 1 month.
• If you want to add an alcohol element to the drink, just restrain together for a super silky, clear drink!

Tips, Tricks and More with Imogen Davis

Once the making this delectable punch was done, we were able to sit down and have a chat with Imogen, getting to know her tips on creating a low/no alcohol tipple, the benefits of Dry January and what motivates her being the co-founder of a restaurant with a zero-waste ethos and foraging fanatic!

What are your tips for creating no/low alcohol cocktail creations?

Just like all of our drinks, we look at classics and try and give them a native twist, I try not to define a drink by specifying that it contains alcohol or not, but create something that is inspired by the seasons, or a special ingredient we’d like to spotlight.

What are the benefits of Dry January?

January is a great time to reset and refocus for the year ahead. I tend to steer clear of demanding a whole dry month upon myself, but it’s definitely welcomed after an indulgent festive period – especially with the no/lo options that are now out there! 

Name 3 things in your kitchen that you can’t live without.

1. A multi-tool! It’s so versatile- it’s a knife, I can take it foraging as well as the kitchen and even use it to fix broken things.  
2. Kilner jars  – kilners are perfect for organising everything from spices to my daily kombucha, as well as ensuring my freezer is prepared for all eventualities! It makes the mission of having no single use plastic a joy. 
3. Maldon salt, of course!

What inspires/motivate you?

Bringing joy to people through food and drink – it really is as simple as that! (the process of getting there is often less-so!)

Still Wanting More?

If you are interested in creating more low/no alcoholic beverages during the month of Dry January, we have many delicious recipes to choose from! Our delicious Paloma mocktail using Feragaia is perfect to replicate a warming, wintery spice in the dark evenings.

Make sure you have your Maldon Salt ready for these recipes! If you are running out, please feel free to browse on our Where to Buy Page to find your nearest store in which stocks our beloved Maldon Salt.

Lastly, we LOVE seeing your creations – please tag us on Instagram using the #maldonsalt so we can share your cocktail masterpieces on our socials.