Punch is a classic drink that's making a comeback in a big way. There's nothing like a communal bowl to spark guest intrigue and get them ordering. Here are some field-tested recipes from some of the top mixologists in the country — try them out at your bar and see profits by the bowlful.
Belle of the Ball Punch
Specialty of Victoria D’Amato-Moran.
24 ounces 10 Cane Rum
16 ounces Mount Gay Extra Old Rum
3 ounces Navan vanilla liqueur
16 ounces pineapple juice
16 ounces mango juice
8 ounces ruby red grapefruit juice
4 ounces lime juice
4 ounces passion fruit syrup*
1 Tbsp. grapefruit bitters
Mix ingredients together and serve in a 4-quart punch bowl with an ice ring. Garnish the punch with orchids. Ice ring prepared in a Jello mold with purified water mint leaves and berries. Place in freezer for 24 hours.
* Passion fruit syrup is made with equal passion fruit puree and simple syrup.
Lost Art
Created by Yuri Kato.
4 ounces Corrido Cristalino Tequila
2 ounces Combier Liqueur d’Orange
4 ounces grapefruit juice
1 lime, thinly sliced
8 cucumber slices
8 grapefruit slices
3 ounces club soda
Mix ingredients together and serve with ice. Garnish with lime, cucumber and grapefruit slices.
Hoist the Colours Punch
Courtesy of Brian Miller, Death & Company, New York.
4 ½ ounces Appleton Estate V/X Jamaica Rum
3 ounces Goslings Dark Rum
1 ½ ounces Lemon Hart Demerara Rum (151 Proof)
1 ½ ounces fresh pineapple juice
3 ounces fresh lemon juice
4 ½ ounces Don’s Mix #2 (grapefruit juice and cinnamon syrup)
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
9 white sugar cubes
Grated nutmeg
3 ounces club soda, to top
Muddle the sugar cubes in a large measuring cup. Add remaining ingredients, stir over crushed ice and strain into a punch bowl over a large block of ice. Top with club soda, and garnish with pineapple wedges.
Bourbon-Cassis Punch
Specialty of Jeffrey Morganthaler, Clyde Common, Portland, Ore.
4 750 ml bottles bourbon
1 750 ml bottle créme de cassis
2 750 ml bottles dry sparkling wine
1 ounce Angostura bitters
12 ounces simple syrup
48 ounces fresh lemon juice
48 ounces ginger beer
Mix ingredients together and serve with ice blocks frozen with lemon slices.
The Bookmarks Cocktail
Courtesy of Jonathan Pogash, Hospitality Holdings, New York.
2 ounces passion fruit tea-infused Appleton Estate Jamaica V/X Rum*
½ ounce simple syrup
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier
3/4 ounce pineapple juice
3/4 ounce cranberry juice
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
Moët & Chandon Champagne, to top
Shake all ingredients except for the Champagne with ice and strain over ice into a tall pilsner glass. Top with the Champagne, and garnish with an orange wheel and cherry.
*Passion fruit tea infused rum: For every 1 (750ml) bottle of rum, use 2 passion fruit tea bags. Add ingredients to an airtight container. Allow mixture to infuse for 15 minutes, remove tea bags and re-bottle.
Great Scott Punch
Specialty of Kim Haasarud, consultant with Liquid Architecture in Phoenix.
5 parts Knob Creek
2 parts St-Germain Elderflower liqueur
4 parts rich citrus simple syrup*
12 parts water
Combine all the ingredients and strain out the peels. Pour into a large punch bowl.
*Rich citrus simple syrup: Peel 3 lemons and 1 orange for every 3 cups of sugar being used, approximately. Muddle the peels in the sugar till the sugar becomes damp and rich with the oils from the fruit. Add the lemon juice. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Planter’s Punch Berry Cup
Created by Kathy Casey, owner/Kathy Casey Food Studios – Liquid Kitchen in Seattle.
1 ounce 10 Cane Rum
3/4 ounce Sailor Jerry Ruma
½ ounce orgeat syrup
½ ounce Pimm’s No. 1 Cup
Dash Peychaud’s Bittersa
5 fresh raspberries
Drop raspberries into pint glass. Measure in ingredients. Fill with ice. Cap and shake vigorously. Line a Collins glass with a long, very thin slice of cucumber (cut from the mandolin). Pour into glass and garnish with a raspberry on a pick.
Death in the South Pacific
Specialty of Evan Martin and the official drink of Tales of the Cocktail 2010.
3/4 ounce Appleton Estate Extra 12 Year Old Jamaica Rum
3/4 ounce Rhum Clement VSOP Rum
½ ounce Grand Marnier
3 dashes absinthe
1/3 ounce Trader Tiki’s Orgeat Syrup
1/3 ounce Fee Brothers Falernum
½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce Fee Brothers Grenadine
½ ounce Cruzan Black Strap Rum
Add all ingredients except for the grenadine and Cruzan Black Strap to a Zombie shell glass and fill with crushed ice. Swizzle the drink well to mix and frost the glass, and then pour in grenadine. Overfill the glass with crushed ice and then pour in Cruzan Blackstrap.
For garnish, take a bamboo skewer and put a brandied cherry through at the very top followed by 1 pineapple leaf (insert through the middle), cut off skin from 1 large orange slice and then cut the strips in half. Insert the ends through the skewer having them hang on opposite sides of each other. Then insert the straw through the loop in the bamboo skewer. It should look like a guy hanging off the drink (cherry is the head, pineapple leaf are the arms, citrus peel dangling away from each other are the legs).
Martha Washington’s Rum Punch
Courtesy of Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.
3 ounces white rum
3 ounces dark rum
3 ounces orange Curacao
4 ounces simple syrup
4 ounces lemon juice
4 ounces fresh orange juice
3 lemons, quartered
1 orange, quartered
1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
3 cinnamon sticks, broken
6 cloves
12 ounces boiling water
In a container, mash the orange, lemons, cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg. Add syrup, lemon and orange juice. Pour the boiling water over the mixture in a container. Let it cool for a few minutes then add the white rum, dark rum and orange Curaçao. Strain well into a pitcher or punch bowl and serve over ice in goblets and decorate with wheels of lemon and orange. Dust with nutmeg and cinnamon.