Walk into Can Pumuki in Barcelona’s Barri Gòtic, and among the Gintonics, Mojitos and Caipirinhas, you might see glasses filled with a creamy white or pink mixture. Typically consisting of a combination of gin and condensed milk, Leche de Pantera (Spanish for “Panther’s Milk”) is an outlier among the easy-drinking cocktails that make up the canon of Spanish classics, but the unlikely mixture—which tastes like a boozy arroz con leche without the rice—remains a staple at the country’s dive bars.
Particularly popular in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter and Madrid’s Moncloa neighborhood, the drink originated at the hands of barman Perico Chicote, who founded what is now considered by many the oldest cocktail bar in Spain, Madrid’s Bar Chicote (now Museo Chicote), frequented by the likes of Chaplin, Hemingway and Dalí.
As the story goes, Chicote created the drink in the 1920s at the behest of José Millán-Astray, general and founder of the Spanish Foreign Legion, who was looking for a recipe that would be easy for soldiers to prepare—even in active conflict zones. The result is a mixture of gin and condensed milk that is slow to spoil and a little too easy to throw back, and which experienced a swift rise to popularity in civilian bars following the regime of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.
Though the drink had fallen out of favor by the 1950s, it experienced a resurgence during Spain’s transition to democracy in the 1970s, as former legionnaires opened bars in Madrid and Barcelona with psychedelic pink versions of the drink (made with grenadine or strawberry liqueur) and green versions (made with peppermint) showing up as popular options in the 1980s.
In 1975, in Barcelona’s Barri Gòtic, a former soldier opened La Barretina on Carrer de Mercè. The bar became known for a high-octane version made in large-format vats. From there, Leche de Pantera spread to bars throughout the neighborhood; many of them, including La Barretina, have since closed, but the drink is still on offer today at Can Pumuki, La Oveja Negra and Casa del Molinero, among others.
It’s not just Barcelona that has adopted the drink. Over 1,000 miles away, in Glasgow, Scotland, the creamy cocktail has found an unlikely enclave of fans. After encountering the drink at Bar Avesta (closed since 2018), Paul Crawford brought the concept back to Glasgow, where it served as the exclusive offering of his pop-up—aptly called Panther’s M*lk. The drink acquired a cult following that kept the pop-up running a full four years—three years and nine months longer than originally intended. From there, Crawford decided to launch his version of the drink as a bottled cocktail with one key switch: creamy oat milk in lieu of condensed milk.
Many of the bartenders I spoke to were cagey about revealing their recipes; one simply replied with “You don’t want to know.” However, the owner and operator of Can Pumuki, Sergi Ramos (who goes by Pumuki), was game. “I’m not sure why no one’s willing to share this recipe when the drink is nothing new,” he says. “I guess everyone’s is a little different, but I think the mystery is considered a selling point, because what’s in it is hardly a trade secret.”
Pumuki’s take combines the requisite gin and condensed milk, but leans on the unorthodox addition of whiskey to bolster the warm and woody notes of cinnamon, which is dusted across the top of the drink. The bar also serves Leche de Pantera Rosa, or Pink Panther’s Milk, a common twist on the drink, with a splash of red currant syrup (Pumuki’s pink version also swaps out whiskey for Cognac), and a Leche de Pantera Verde (or Green Panther’s Milk), a house specialty made with crème de menthe. After a decade selling the drink, Pumuki is still fascinated by its popularity—especially among younger guests, who likely have no knowledge of its history. “It’s wild,” he says. “Most of the young people have no clue about the drink’s link to the Foreign Legions and the Franco regime at all.” And yet, like any classic, the drink endures on the merit—or in this case, the mystery—of its makeup.
