Chilean cola de mono — the creamy Christmas drink with coffee and cinnamon

The traditional recipe uses milk, aguardiente, coffee, sugar or condensed milk, cinnamon and clove, and it is drunk very cold at Christmas and New Year. This version uses 1 litre of whole milk, 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (397 g), 250 ml of strong coffee, 250 ml of aguardiente, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves and 1 teaspoon of vanilla; the condensed milk makes it creamy and replaces the sugar.

With 250 ml of 38-40% aguardiente or pisco in 1.8 litres of mix, cola de mono comes out at about 5% alcohol, similar to a beer. With 500 ml it is stronger, about 9%, and the volume rises to roughly 2 litres. Use a clear, unaged aguardiente or pisco; a harsh one shows in the glass. It is a drink for adults: it contains alcohol even though it tastes like coffee with milk.

Replace the 250 ml of aguardiente with 250 ml of cold whole milk and carry on as written. So it does not taste flat, add 1 more teaspoon of instant coffee and half a teaspoon of extra vanilla; some households add a few drops of rum essence. With children at the table, make both versions in separate bottles and label them.

In closed glass bottles in the fridge it keeps for up to 7 days. Because it contains dairy and little alcohol, it is not as stable as a liqueur: if it smells sour or separates into lumps that do not shake back in, throw it out. Make it 3 to 5 days before Christmas so it can rest, and finish it within the week.

Yes. Replace the condensed milk with 1 can of evaporated milk (410 g) and 8 tablespoons of sugar (100 g), dissolved in the coffee while it is still hot before cooling it. It comes out less sweet and lighter than the condensed-milk version; adjust the sugar to taste once it is cold, because cold dulls sweetness.

It separates if the coffee is hot, if the aguardiente goes into warm milk or if it is not blended well: acidic coffee and alcohol make the milk protein form fine lumps. To avoid it, keep every liquid very cold, add the aguardiente last in a thin stream and blend. If a creamy layer appears on top after a few days, shake the bottle: that is normal.

The classic partner is pan de pascua, the Chilean Christmas fruit loaf, eaten with very cold cola de mono after dinner on Christmas Eve. It also goes well with nuts and nougat. Serve it in small glasses: it is a rich, creamy drink, closer to a liquid dessert than to a soft drink.

3 to 5 days ahead. It needs at least 24 hours in the fridge for the cinnamon and clove to infuse, and in sealed glass bottles it keeps up to 7 days: make it the weekend before and finish it within the week.