Milk Room Review

Jason Frey

Milk Room is an eight-person microbar known for its rare spirits, intimate environment, and high-quality bartending. Because of its size and renown, it has become quite exclusive, so anyone looking to get a seat should be prepared to book at least a month in advance, or else the reservations will go fast. Located on the second floor of the CAA, Milk Room patrons will have to pass through the main lounge, the Drawing Room, and head towards the bustling Game Room. But right before they head into the crowd of the billiards room, they will notice the stained glass doors on the right—these mark the private space of Milk Room.

The esteemed doors of the Chicago Athletic Association (CAA) have been open since 1893, when it began operations in the wake of the World’s Columbian Exposition. After 114 years of offering private clubs and athletic facilities to its customers, the CAA shut down just before the 2008 recession, but it was rehabilitated and bought by Hyatt, which now operates it as a hotel. Among its amenities are its notable food and drink establishments: the rooftop Cindy’s, James Beard-winning Cherry Circle Room, billiards bar Game Room, and, most famously, the rare spirits bar Milk Room.

Walking into the microbar, the noise of the hotel falls away (but the heat increases—you would do well not to wear a heavy sweater if you’re going here), and you are transported back to a Prohibition era speakeasy paneled in dark wood, cast in low light, and surrounded by dark liquors and an eclectic collection of glasses. In the corner, a Milk Room pennant is set off by a film projector on the shelf beneath it and Tiffany glass-style lamps. This nod to the 1920’s is not just for show; as I learned from the bartender, Milk Room recovered some actual Prohibition era spirits during the restoration over a decade ago and still uses and sells them.

Of course, being ranked in the top 50 of North America’s best bars suggests both the experience and prices that one can expect at Milk Room. However, the bar remains vague (at least, on its website) about its offerings. Some of this is because their cocktail list changes frequently and they cycle through their specialty liquors, but in general I only saw estimates of average cocktail prices from online reviews, ranging from $15 to $30. To put that to rest, I can say that if you are drawing from the cocktail list itself, the cheapest cocktail was $28, with the median being $37.

On paper, this is certainly pricey. But keep in mind, you’re paying for a few different things. First, the name. Milk Bar is well-known and exclusive, and you go partially for that reason. Second, the environment. The bar itself is beautiful and the personalized attention you get from the bartender is worth paying for. Third, the drinks are admittedly phenomenal. At very few bars can you get such creative, interesting, and tasty drinks that do not rely on sugar, mixers, or sub-par alcohol, and at even fewer bars can you order a drink that not only changes as you drink it—from the front note to the aftertaste—but also as it settles during your sitting. Additionally, before you order a drink, you are given a complimentary glass of prosecco stirred with some light gin, so whatever the price is of the first drink, you’re really paying that for a total of two drinks.

Gladstone 1891

I first tried the Gladstone 1891: a stirred drink typically made with Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel bourbon, but on this night the bartender was using a Maker’s Mark bourbon specially made for the Cherry Circle Room in the CAA. The drink featured a combination of high-proof Demerara 151 rum, Combier Kümmel (cumin liqueur), absinthe, and Maraschino liqueur. It is a warm, strong drink mainly composed of bourbon, but in this case, the smoky notes come not from the whiskey, but rather from the Combier Kümmel. Before this, I had never tasted a cumin liqueur before, and it is unique. The drink tastes just like you’re sipping tart cherries that have been smoked with cumin and fennel. The Gladstone 1891 is definitely a cocktail to sip on, and as the large ice cube—delicately stamped with the Milk Room logo—melts down, the drink becomes more mild and the floral notes of the absinthe shine through.

The elegant “Milk Room” embossed ice cube was a delightful touch

Next up, the Gin Fizz Tropical: a shaken drink containing Vigilant Navy Strength Gin (a type of gin over 57% ABV categorized by 18th century British sailors for its ability to light gunpowder), Matsui “The Hakuto” Gin (which won Gold in the 2020 and Silver in the 2023 World Gin Awards for Japanese contemporary style gin), along with herbal Chartreuse Vegetal, pineapple juice, cane sugar, lime juice, and shaken egg whites, which lend the drink its silky texture and pale color. This cocktail is complex and is possibly the best gin drink I’ve ever tasted. At the front is the soft consistency of egg whites combined with the rich flavors of flowery gin and sweet pineapple, but as it moves to the back of the mouth, the mellow flavors give way to a tart bite of the Chartreuse Vegetal that lingers with the warmth of the high-proof gin. For me, this drink is the highlight of the drinks that I tasted and I would go back for this one alone. It’s a mark of success when a list of ingredients can both leap off the page to combine into an experience far more elevated than they would initially suggest and read so clearly in the mouth—in this case, the Matsui gin, pineapple, and egg whites on the front and the lime, Chartreuse, and Vigilant gin on the back.

The final cocktail of the night is the Bitter Grain: another stirred cocktail made of Willett Four Year Rye, aged in White Oak barrels; Italian therapeutic wine Cocchi Barolo Chinato; warm-spiced Amaro Ciociaro; bitter elixir Fernet del Frate (made of distilled grape spirits infused with a concoction of herbs), sweet Spanish sherry, and Yellow Chartreuse VEP, a French acronym that stands for “Exceptionally Prolonged Aging.” A drink built for end-of-night sipping, the Bitter Grain is Milk Room’s answer to an augmented Old Fashioned. This cocktail is not for the weak, and the alcohol makes itself known. Due to five of the seven alcohols in this drink being Italian medicinal liqueurs, it has strong herbal notes of anise, cloves, and chamomile that lend to the smokiness of the rye. The drinking experience as I can best describe it (apropos of Thanksgiving) is like smelling a homemade cranberry sauce as the stewed fruit is just cooling off and throwing an orange peel in at the last minute. While I find this to be the least exciting of the three cocktails, it remains complex, and if there were to be a panacea in alcohol form, it would be the Bitter Grain.

I ended the parade of cocktails with a sweet 2016 riesling, which was the dessert in this five-course experience. As a testament to the bartender’s expertise and knowledge, even after informing me that the riesling I had selected from the menu was no longer available, she left the Milk Room to find a bottle in the Drawing Room’s wine collection that matched my chosen tastes and price point. The sweet wine lingered as I looked between the bottles placed in front of me—put there by the bartender so that the customer could examine the alcohols in their drink. Milk Room, while pricey, is deservedly so. Visitors know what they’re getting into when they reserve a spot at a microbar of such high esteem, and the only question is whether the experience will live up to the expense. For me, it completely did. The personal attention, relaxed pace, and inventive drinks contributed to the most unique, and probably the highest quality, bar experience I’ve ever had. If you’re looking for a casual, cheap drink, then you’ve chosen the wrong place. But for special occasions, mixed drink appreciators will love Milk Room.