December 2009

Bowled Over

ARTISANAL PUNCHES add a sophisticated splash to HOLIDAY revelry
produced by WYATT PEABODY / photographs by BRIAN LEATART

Punch-drunk love may be coming sooner than you think. Celebrating New Year’s with these inspired punch creations will surely have you taking the drink very seriously (instead of the person you may or may not be making out with when the ball drops).

The Twenty-Ten Punch

Created by Vincenzo Marianella

9 ounces freshly squeezed organic lemon juice
6 ounces St-Germain elderflower liqueur
6–12 ounces good sweet sherry
1 bottle Sazerac Rye
12 ounces organic pear juice
24 ounces good Champagne or Prosecco
10–12 dashes orange and grapefruit bitters
3 lemon slices
2 pear slices
5 mint sprigs
1 cup of mixed berries

In a punch bowl, mix lemon juice, St-Germain, sherry, rye, pear juice, Champagne (or Prosecco) and bitters. Garnish with lemon, pear, mint and berries.

Individual Twenty-Ten Punch

¾ ounce fresh squeezed organic lemon juice
½ ounce St-Germain
½–1 ounce good sweet sherry
2 ounces Sazerac Rye
1 ounce organic pear juice
2 ounces good Champagne or Prosecco
2 dashes orange and grapefruit bitters
A few mixed berries
1 lemon peel
1 sprig mint
1 pear fan

Combine first 7 ingredients. Simple syrup may be added to taste. Serve in Burgundy glass over crushed ice. Garnish with berries, lemon, mint and pear. Makes TK servings.

Venetian Punch Royale

Created by Eric Alperin

750 ml. bottle of Aperol
750 ml. bottle of gin (Plymouth or Beefeater)
5 lemon peels with 5 bar spoons of sugar muddled into a paste (known as the oleo-saccharum, Latin for “sweet oil”)
12 ½ ounces of warmed cucumber-infused simple syrup* (recipe follows)
12 ½ ounces fresh lemon juice
10 dashes Angostura bitters
1 bottle Prosecco
1 cucumber, thinly sliced into wheels

*Cucumber-infused simple syrup: Put a peeled and chopped cucumber in pan of warmed 1 to 1 simple syrup. Let sit till cooled. Remove cucumber pieces.

Mix all ingredients (save cucumber) in a punch bowl with a large block of ice. Remove lemon peels. Garnish with cucumber wheels. Makes 24 servings.

Columbian Punch

Created by Ted Haigh

1 pint water
3 teaspoons oolong tea
1 liter Coruba Jamaica Rum
1 pint of Hennessy VS Cognac
4 ounces Green Chartreuse
Juice of 2 oranges
Juice of 2 lemons
Sugarcane syrup (to taste)
750 ml. Champagne (Henri Abelé Brut or Placere Brut Filantes, both available at BevMo!)
2 oranges, sliced
1 lime, sliced

Boil water and steep for 5 minutes with oolong tea, then strain and cool. Combine with cognac, rum, Chartreuse, orange juice and lemon juice. Sweeten with sugarcane syrup to taste. Pour into a punch bowl and fill with ice, leaving room to top with Champagne. Decorate with oranges and lime. Makes 25 five-ounce servings.

The Flowing Bols

Created by Marcos Tello

2 fresh pineapple rings
3 thin-cut lemon peels
3 heaping bar spoons of superfine sugar
6 ounces raspberry syrup* (recipe follows)
2 ounces maraschino liqueur
½ ounce Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6
6 ounces fresh lemon juice
2 ounces orange juice
16 ounces Bols Genever
10 ounces soda water

*Raspberry syrup: Cover raspberries with simple syrup (one part superfine sugar to one part water, measured separately and stirred together at room temperature until sugar is dissolved) for 24 hours and strain through cheesecloth. Squeeze cheesecloth to make sure all liquid is extracted!

Muddle pineapple rings and lemon peels with superfine sugar. Add remaining ingredients (except soda water) and stir until sugar has dissolved. Add ice and stir again. Strain over a large block of ice and add soda water. Makes 12–15 servings.

BONUS: Duke of Windsor Champagne Punch

Bartender: Nancie Clare
Editor of LA, the Los Angeles Times Magazine

½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
½ cup simple syrup* (recipe follows)
1 cup light rum
1 cup dark rum
2 bottles Champagne, chilled
3 or 4 two-quart blocks of ice

* Simple syrup: Mix 1 cup water and 2 cups superfine granulated sugar. Bring to boil and cook 4 minutes, stirring. Cool before use.

Combine lemon juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, simple syrup and both rums and chill at least 2 hours. Just before serving, pour over ice and stir in chilled Champagne. Makes about 20 4-ounce servings .

Note: To freeze blocks of ice, use any container with a capacity of at least 2 quarts. Bundt cake and gelatin molds make beautiful ice blocks, but deep bowls work well. Freeze overnight. To unmold, dip into hot water.

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