Yoghurt
Fermented dairy, occasionally used to add tang and creaminess to blended cocktails.
Origin
Central Asia and the Middle East, where fermented milk products date back thousands of years, later spreading worldwide and becoming a modern smoothie and cocktail ingredient.
History
Yoghurt's fermentation tradition stretches back thousands of years across Central Asia and the Middle East, long predating any cocktail application, valued as a way to preserve milk and create a tangy, probiotic-rich food. Its use in mixed drinks is a modern development, borrowed from smoothie and lassi culture, adding a thick, creamy, tangy element to blended cocktails that gives a different texture and flavor profile than cream or ice cream would.
Flavor profile
Tangy and creamy, with a distinct fermented sourness balanced against whatever sweetness is added.
Tasting notes
Blended into a drink, yoghurt adds real tang alongside its creamy texture, giving a cocktail a brighter, more complex character than plain cream or ice cream, well suited to fruit-forward blended drinks.
Substitutes
- Kefir, for a related, similarly tangy fermented dairy substitute.
- Sour cream thinned with milk, as a rough approximation.
- Coconut yoghurt, for a dairy-free alternative with a similar tangy character.