Add Sweetened Condensed Milk To Red Wine For A Sugary Summer Treat

Adventurous drinkers and prominent TikTokers are finding creative things to mix with it. @timthetankofficial and @nicoleleeanne6, two TikTok users unafraid to taste test bold new flavors, both recently posted in favor of combining red wine with sweetened condensed milk. After trying it myself, I concur. It's reminiscent of that longtime boozy summer staple, sangria (which is a great way to use cheap wine), but with a creamy twist. This is a drink that would not be out of place among the mimosas and bloody marys at a brunch table.

While this may sound like a strange new experiment, this drink has roots in Brazilian culture. Red wine and sweetened condensed milk are two of the ingredients in a Brazilian cocktail known as an Espanhola, which adds blended pineapple to the mix. However, the simple red wine and sweetened condensed milk combo, sans pineapple, is what gained viral fame. After I taste-tested that combo, I also mixed in pineapple juice to get an idea of the original flavor of the Espanhola.

Since the condensed milk will provide plenty of sweetness on its own, Espanhola recipes recommend using a dry red wine, as it has a very low level of sugar left over after fermentation. Common dry red wines include merlot, pinot noir, and cabernet sauvignon, which is what I used. Dry red wine can be bitter, so it stood to reason that the sweet milk addition would cut that. 

Like the TikTokers, my recipe went on vibes. First, I filled a third of a standard wine glass with cabernet. Then, I spooned in the condensed milk, blended it with a milk frother, and then continued adding milk to taste. My drink's hue was closer to açai than the influencers' blush-and-bashful pink, even after adding three heaping spoonfuls of milk. 

The milk understandably raised the sweetness level, but also elevated the natural fruit flavor of the cabernet, and the creaminess somehow made the drink feel lighter. It was a fun, smooth flavor pairing.

For the bonus round, I attempted to replicate the more traditional Espanhola by adding a generous pour of pineapple juice to the mix. This hack fully pushed the cocktail into my winners' circle. The pineapple added a fuller dimension of fruit and acidity that helped balance what could be too-cloying sweetness in the condensed milk.

Sweetened condensed milk is used in more Brazilian cocktails than the Espanhola. If you're more of a traditional cocktail drinker, skip the wine entirely. A cocktail known as a batida combines sweetened condensed milk with the potent Brazilian liquor known as cachaça, a spirit perhaps better known as the star of a caipirinha. The caipirinha is Brazil's national drink — cachaça is made from sugarcane, which is found in abundance across the country.

A more common usage of sweetened condensed milk can be found at your local coffee shop. The sweet stuff is a key ingredient in Vietnamese iced coffee. Much like how the milk plays well with red wine, coffee's bitter and often fruit-forward flavor profile is complemented by the bracing hit of sweetness. You can also take your flavor travels to another part of Southeast Asia and combine the milk with cardamom, anise, and black tea for a delicious Thai iced tea.