Freethinker Punch

As is becoming our yearly tradition, we hosted the 4th of July again this year, an event that plays well to my main culinary strengths: pork and booze. Per my standard party trick, the latter was a non-alcoholic punch base flanked by spirits and wine, a configuration I can't recommend highly enough. Not suggested with fireworks, though; we loaded up on lawn games instead.

I got a bit of feedback that this wasn't my best punch to date, which is fair. I wasn't too much bothered, since this capably performed its dual mission of fueling the party and soaking up a ton of random shit that had accumulated in my fridge, which is a thing that happens. Sigh - such trials and tribulations!

This is about a quarter-serving of the amount for the party, so based on the amount we had left, I'd say enough for 6-8 people or so?

4 oz lemon oleo-saccharum (we've made this before, but it deserves a rundown... just not now)
4 oz mango shrub (a cup each of diced mango, apple cider vinegar, sugar, and water, allowed to steep together in the fridge for 2-3 weeks)
4 oz lime water (a bunch of spent lime shells, infused in water for about 2 weeks)
4 oz lime juice (not the juice of said limes, because 2-week-old lime juice is nasty)
8 oz cantaloupe juice (spiked with about 1/2 teaspoon citric acid for balance)
8 oz green tea
12 oz ginger beer (Reed's)
16 oz soda water

Combine in a punch bowl over copious ice. Serve with your favorite white spirits and wine.

Wise Man

Hey look, another lapse! It's another season where I just haven't been mixing much original stuff - largely gin & tonics and daiquiris, for some reason. Just to keep the suspense from building too much, here's a backlog item for you.

I started screwing around with this concept a little while ago after purchasing a bottle of Bombay Sapphire East, which was an unusual purchase for me. I'm not a fan (at all) of standard Bombay Sapphire, but a bar-master friend had me try a competition drink of his once using this as the base, and I got hooked. This version adds lemongrass and black pepper to the normal Sapphire botanicals, which I think adds some depth and spice to what is otherwise a fairly bland gin. I got to thinking one morning (don't judge me) how the "eastern" concept might get along nicely with tea, so I assembled this the moment I got home from work. It's still a work in process (I don't think the balance is quite there) but let's record it anyway.

1 oz Bombay Sapphire East
1 oz cognac (any decent VS or better brandy ought to do)
1 oz Bonal (honestly, I might try straight-up sweet vermouth next time)
1 oz chilled oolong tea (can't remember exactly what kind)
1/4 oz Licor 43 (to balance the astringency of the tea)

Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. A lemon twist garnish is a good idea here, but don't tell anybody I said so.

The mix here was based on the Ampersand, which I think is something of an unfairly obscure lost cocktail. Again, I don't think this exact recipe quite nailed the balance, but I find the concept intriguing, and the drink's light body quite fit for summer. Some further renditions might pop up here soon.

Mocktail Month Addendum: Berry Motijo

Mocktail Month being officially over won't stop us. Increasingly my wife (aiming to provide a health-conscious counterbalance to, well, me) is requesting booze-free drinks, and I'll be damned if I won't build up a repertoire to keep her happy. After all, she's dealt with me building up a high-test repertoire to keep myself happy. It's the least I can do.

This is really just a tea-soda hybrid; an iced tea augmented in the same fashion as sparkling water, with a hefty handful of mint to boot.

5 oz chilled green tea
1 oz strawberry-lemon syrup
3/4 oz lemon juice
12-15 mint leaves

Muddle the mint in the bottom of a shaker with the syrup. Add the juice and tea, shake like crazy to break up the mint, and strain over fresh ice in a highball glass. Garnish with a wide swath of lemon peel, or another big bunch of mint, or a fresh strawberry, or all of the above.

Mo-"tea"-jo? Get it?!? (I know, it's fucking terrible, but it works.)

I think we might take this whole Mocktail [insert arbitrary unit of time] concept and generalize it into another regular thing. The Mocktail Moment. I like it!

Mocktail Month: Provisionally Accepted

Another recent notion of mine is trying to replicate serious cocktails in a non-alcoholic format. I recognize this as a losing battle in a lot of cases; without the burn of proper whiskey, there's no way you're going to successfully produce a booze-free Manhattan, for example. Just about anything with citrus is almost too easy. Perhaps there's a middle way; something more challenging, a way to mimic a stirred drink, but one within the realm of possibility.

A Negroni isn't necessarily the most logical of options, and to be honest this isn't quite there. Another edition found online is probably strictly a closer match, but this one doesn't mess around with non-alcoholic wine (because fuck that nonsense, although they did have the bright idea to toast the spices, which I'll have to try next time around) nor does it require that you purchase Sanbitter. Instead, um, you only have to make a few different things at home.

Fine. It's not any more convenient and it's not particularly close. One thing it does manage is a lot of flavor in a compact format, with the balance of bitterness, spice, and sweetness to be found in a good Negroni. It's a step in the right direction. Too bad Mocktail Month is just about over and we can get back to the real deal before long.

2 1/2 oz over-steeped tea (a mix of green and black here; essentially, just simmer 6 oz of water per teabag in a saucepan until it reduces by about half, then squeeze out all the resulting liquid and allow to cool)
1/3 oz "red vermouth" syrup (recipe to come)
1/3 oz gin syrup (like the G&T syrup I've shared before, but with the tonic part stripped out)
2 dashes Regan's No. 6 Orange Bitters
2 dashes Fee Brothers Gin Barrel Aged Orange Bitters
2 dashes Bitter Truth Tonic Bitters

Stir and strain over fresh ice; garnish with a wide strip of grapefruit peel to make it feel a little more like the real thing.

It's really much closer to the Teagroni from Craft Cocktails at Home, but whatever, it's still tasty. Further renditions of this one to come, I think. Oh, and I deliberately chose not to include a picture of this one. In its current form, it ain't pretty; not much chance of mistaking it for a Negroni by sight. Ah well, let's accept what progress we can.

Mocktail Month: Gunpowder Fizz

Now that we're burned out on sodas, we must find alternatives. While seeking inspiration, I found an article on Imbibe's blog about Five Watt Coffee, a local shop that features a changing selection of coffee-based drinks. I love this as a concept. Good baristas and bartenders both have a common obsession with fine, finicky detail, and it's fascinating to cross the boundaries a bit.

This is not a coffee drink, although I have a couple ideas in the works. Tea is also a great non-alcoholic base, aided by the fact that there are a huge range of varieties. I picked a few different types up and thought that putting them through their paces would be fun. Thus we wind up with this.

4 oz brewed, chilled gunpowder tea (a jasmine variety here)
1 oz lemon/orange oleo-saccharum
3/4 oz half-and-half (you could use whole milk if you prefer, but I wanted a heavier foam and texture)
1/4 oz lemon juice
3 dashes Bitter Truth Jerry Thomas' Own Decanter bitters

Shake well and strain into a Collins glass over large ice cubes. Top with a couple more dashes of bitters as garnish (I also thought about a smoked sugar, but that's an entirely different post).

More tea-based drinks to come! I have a couple others brewed that I'm itching to try out. It'll likely be a busy last week of Mocktail Month, to end on a high note.

Cold Smoke Punch

I feel like I've been neglecting you guys lately.  Not my normal sort of mixological rut lately - just a lot of classics, unintentional self-cribbing, and unsuccessful experimentation.  Happens to the best of us, I guess.

At any rate, here's something finally worth sharing: a fairly old-school style punch that still appears to be somewhat original, at least based on a quick perusal of David Wondrich's indispensable reference.

1 1/2 oz scotch whiskey (again, I'll call it what I damn well want)
1 1/2 oz brewed black tea (pretty standard English Breakfast, cooled to room temperature, on its way to becoming iced tea)
3/4 oz peach-brown sugar syrup
3/4 oz lime juice

Combine over a large ice cube and stir vigorously.  Grate some nutmeg on top in classic punch style, if you insist.

I originally reached for bourbon when putting this one together, because it seemed like a natural fit for the peach syrup, but I happened on a new bottle of Macallan 10 instead.  This turned out to be a happy accident.  You could probably use just about whatever blended scotch you like.

Mocktail Week Afterthought: In-Law Cooler

This is getting a bit freaky - this is about the 8th post in a row dealing exclusively with non-alcoholic beverages.  WTF?  I'll have to get back on track soon.

A request from my sister-in-law prompted this one.  I wasn't aiming for anything too fancy but it turned out interesting enough to merit recording...

1 1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz strawberry-watermelon syrup (turned out relatively dilute thanks to the water content of the melon)
2 oz iced white tea
2-3 dashes rhubarb bitters (homemade)

Shake and strain over fresh ice, then top with about 2 oz chilled cucumber water.  Garnish with whatever's handy - watermelon would be particularly appropriate.

Mocktail Week #4: Sam's Bitter

This one wound up being something like a take on Sanbitter (which is something like a non-alcoholic Campari & soda) with some intriguing added flavor notes.  It was a nice variation from other more citric mocktails so far, veering instead into highly bitter territory but with enough sweetness to balance.

1 1/2 oz mixed berry syrup (leftover from Kader Punch - no shame in recycling)
1 1/2 oz chilled black tea (a fairly mild Darjeeling here)
1/2 oz red grapefruit juice

Stir over ice and top with about 1 1/2 oz each ginger beer (Regatta again) and soda water.  Stir again, garnish with a grapefruit twist if you must.

It's too bad that I ended on this one, because it'd be a fantastic apertif.  Might have to revisit this one tomorrow.

Kader Punch

Well, I'm into another mixological rut, hence the lack of new posts.  Early last week I checked my fridge and found that four different syrups had collected in their squeeze bottles, tucked away on a shelf in the door.  Waste is despicable, especially after putting such hard work into each of them (okay, not really hard work) and so it became old-fashioned time, all the time.  Not that I object; the old-fashioned is one of the easiest cocktails, and I find almost any variety to be a paragon of virtuous simplicity.  But they don't make for interesting blogging.  So, instead, today I bring you a rare adventure into non-alcoholic beverages.

One of my favorite things to assemble for a party is punch.  Like old-fashioned cocktails, punch is amenable to endless variation, and has a huge advantage in that it can be prepared in advance and without alcohol.  Once you arrive, it's just a matter of assembly and ladling, and guests can keep themselves happy the whole night through, including by spiking their cups (or not!) as they prefer.  I've retained a couple of large Tanqueray 1.75L bottles with handles, which makes the whole shebang exceptionally portable.

My latest version wasn't assembled especially far in advance, but that's okay too.  Some good friends of ours were having a party; I'd offered to bring a specialty beverage, but they forgot to confirm with me until about 6 hours prior to the event.  What to do?  Rummage around for some frozen berries and tea leaves, and tell them to grab whatever at the liquor store?  Yep.

This is a little more involved than some of my other recipes, and it requires larger equipment, mainly a big pot with a lid.  But it produces enough for a party: about 4.5 liters once assembled, which has proven to be just about right for a mixed group of 15-20.  Bring along a couple 5-pound bags of ice to keep it cold, too.

2 pounds white sugar (the unbleached kind or a light raw sugar like Turbinado would be okay too, but will produce a muddier appearance)
1 pound frozen mixed berries (mine came from a couple half-used bags, and included a mix of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and cranberry)
48 oz water (or 3 pints, for those inclined)
1/4 cup loose black tea leaves (I used a fairly mild, floral Darjeeling)
1/4 cup unpeeled, chopped ginger
Peel of 2 large or 3 medium lemons
8 oz lemon juice
1 oz honey
1 12-oz bottle ginger beer (I like Reed's)
1 1-L bottle soda water (or use your siphon)

In a non-reactive bowl, pour about 1/4 cup of the sugar (precision is unnecessary) over the lemon peels.  Lightly muddle them until the sugar adheres to the peels and set aside.  This is a trick gleaned from David Wondrich's Punch, known as "preparing the oleo-saccharum".

Bring 1 pint of the water to a simmer, then remove from the heat and add the tea leaves.  Stir a few times and let steep for 6-7 minutes.  Don't let this go too long or it will become bitter.  Filter into the storage vessel of your choice (a clean 1.75L bottle is very convenient!) and set aside.  Discard the used tea leaves.

Bring the remaining 2 pints of water to a simmer and add the sugar; stir until this dissolves.  Add the mixed berries and ginger, and bring just back up to a simmer.  While this heats, add about 2 oz of the lemon juice to the oleo-saccharum and stir to dissolve the sugar.  Add the remaining lemon juice to the storage vessel.  When the syrup returns to a simmer, kill the heat, add the lemon mixture, stir, and cover.  Let this stand and infuse for anywhere from 2-4 hours as time permits.

Filter the syrup through a couple layers of cheesecloth or a fairly coarse strainer into the final storage vessel.  If you wind up with extra syrup, keep it in a separate, airtight container to bring along for the ride.  You can use this later like any other flavored syrup.

When ready to serve, break out your finest punch bowl (or relatively clean bucket; I won't judge) and pour in the contents of your transport vessel.  Re-fill the vessel with cold water, and pour that into the bowl/bucket as well.  Add ice, soda water, and about half the ginger beer.  Stir to combine, taste, and adjust with the remaining syrup and ginger beer as desired.  Remember that the flavor will become gradually diluted, so you want it on the strong side to begin with.

Serve with white wine on the side (something relatively subtle, like a vinho verde) for the assembly of spritzers (1 part wine, 1 part punch) and with whatever liquors are handy.  Provide a shot glass for measurement, so that your guests don't accidentally overpour.  This particular punch goes especially well with a mild gin or with brandy.  Top off periodically with ice as needed.

Now that makes for a good time.  I've got a couple more of these that I've developed, and which I'll be happy to share in future posts.