I’ll be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn when
it comes to the art of mixing great cocktails. I’ve only made one phenomenal
libation off the top of my head, and that occurred three days ago, when I
combined st germain (elderflower liqueur), Bulliet rye whiskey and lime juice.
The balance was just right.
I’ve learned something from making this punch: Follow
the recipe. I tried Jen Aggs version from the great book
How to Host a Dinner Party by Corey Mintz. I should have put myself
entirely in her hands, since Agg is the mastermind behind the Black Hoof’s
cocktail menu and has years of experience as a bartender and restauranter. Instead, I was lazy about getting all the ingredients I needed and just went
ahead and made a few substitutions. Needless to say, it didn’t work at all! The liquor
was sickeningly sweet, and the citrus too sour. It was a headache in a glass.
In the St Germain bartending booklet that came with the bottle, they wrote, “Truly impressive cocktail making is anchored by the
art of balancing flavors and subtleties. Take the time to measure each and
every ingredient. Exactement! Your
guests will pay notice, to be sure. Free your mind, not your pour.” Agg also wrote
in the recipe, “Once you’ve got the hang of this, you can experiment with the
ingredients, so long as you stick to the ratios. What you could do is take out
the mint or the spiced rum, or have all gin and no rum or you could switch out
the citrus. You could just do lemon and orange. You can take anything out so
long and you replace it with something that adds the same character.” This is
where I went wrong.
Punch has always seemed so easy to me. Just pour a bunch of
stuff in a bowl and voila! I’ve learned that making punch taste seamless
involves “exactement”, since punch
recipes can involve the mingling of 10-15 different elements.
Here is the original recipe with my substitutions in
brackets (Serves 4)
1 lemon, zest of
1 orange, zest of (I used tangerines ughh)
2 oz gin
3 oz rum (I used a maple spiced rum – extra sweet)
2 oz spiced rum (I used Grand Marnier)
2 sprigs of mint
1 oz Crème de Casis (or simple syrup, fruit puree, maple
syrup – I used maple syrup)
4 oz ginger ale
4 oz club soda
2 oz lemon juice
2 oz lime juice
4 oz of orange juice (I didn’t have oranges so I just used
more grapefruit juice)
4 oz of grapefruit juice
5 dashes Pechauds Bitters (I used Fee Brothers Peach
Bitters)
6 oz of Sparkling wine.
In a mason jar, combine all the liquor and zest and let sit
in the fridge for 1-3 days. Strain.
Have all the ingredients chilled to start. Rub the inside of
the jar with the mint sprigs. Pour the liquors in. Add the crème de casis, the
sodas, and the juices. Stir.
To finish add the bitter and sparkling wine. Stir and top with
fresh mint.
I’ll let you know how my next batch of punch goes!
