A bowl of punch says “welcome” in a way few other things can.
“When you’re entertaining, punch is an easy way to get a drink in somebody’s hand right away. You walk in and there’s this bowl of bright and refreshing punch sitting there, it’s a great way to kick off their taste buds,” says Miles Macquarrie, beverage director and one of the partners of Decatur’s Kimball House. “I’ve never seen a punch bowl that didn’t go dry at a house party.”
Kimball House doesn’t offer a punch service because they’d have to sell the whole bowl of punch in one evening and with 16 cocktails on the menu most of the time, there are just too many delicious choices. “We do offer our Chartreuse Tonic, which is a giant punch of sorts. We make 5 gallons at a time. It’s great with oysters. And we do a bottled old-fashioned for four, served with hand-cut ice cubes.”
But he’s often asked for a punch recipe by partners and friends. House Punch #3 is his current favorite. “Right now my favorite spirit is gin or rum, I go back and forth, but I think gin rules in the summertime. I made this one up for one of my partners who’s in charge of the shellfish program. He was going to the beach and wanted something to serve his family. House Punch #3 has the bright, spritzy qualities you want in an aperitif. It’s really refreshing.”
<<Photos: Check out some of Atlanta's most beautiful punches
Kellie Thorn, beverage director for Hugh Acheson’s restaurants and bar manager at Empire State South, likes to have a punch on the menu at Empire State South. “We’re open for three meals a day and we have a lengthy cocktail menu, but having a punch is something we can offer our guests that’s kind of instant.” The punch is kept in bottles at the bar and when ordered is served over ice and garnished.
She appreciates the historic nature of punches and has researched old recipes in creating what she serves at the bar. “Punches are really the foundation for cocktails. Before there were mixed cocktails, there were punches. A lot of old punch bases used tea or different juices for their dilution. Pineapple juice was a favorite because it was so exotic.”
She finds punches are perfect for entertaining. “I love to entertain and one of the best things is when you can be part of the party. With a punch you do all the work beforehand and have it all set up. You look fabulous and you can enjoy entertaining and hanging out with your guests. It can make entertaining look effortless.
“You can have a beautiful punch bowl with a ladle and punch cups and that’s really nice. Or you can pack it up and take it to the lake and pour it into coffee mugs.”
Bo Popovic, beverage director at Cook Hall in Buckhead’s W Hotel, keeps punch on offer at all times.
“Punch is a real crowd pleaser for us. We change our food menu every season and we change the punch as well,” said Bo Popovic, the restaurant’s beverage director.
“For fall we’ve been offering a Howitzer Gun Punch for several years. It’s based on a classic punch from the late 1800s. A full bottle of brandy, a full bottle of bourbon, a full bottle of overproof rum and some oversteeped black tea – it’s a real big punch, high in alcohol. For summer we like our Passion Punch. It’s has fruit juice and green tea and it’s more refreshing.”
Punch is so popular at Cook Hall that they keep at least four crystal punch bowls on hand for parties and special events like their “Punch Out @ 5” Monday through Friday from 5 – 7 p.m. They serve $5 cups of punch and $5 bar snacks.
“Punches are always fun. People can gather around a punch and that’s where the conversation starts. They get their cup, they talk about the punch itself, that’s where people start to interact and it can be the focal point of the party. It’s great for a party where people don’t know each other.”
Every punch needs ice. From Miles Macquarrie of Kimball House, “Freeze large pieces of ice for your punch. Something like a cake pan will work fine.” And every punch needs dilution. Check out the options offered by three of Atlanta’s top mixologists.
House Punch #3
Make your simple syrup ahead of time, then refrigerate all the components of this punch recipe from Miles Macquarrie of Kimball House. Then just before your guests arrive, juice the lemons and combine with the gin, Aperol and simple syrup. Pour in the chilled sparkling wine and seltzer just as you’re ready to serve that first cup.
Simple syrup is made by combining 1 part water with 1 part granulated sugar. Heat the water and then remove it from heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cool and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
As for the gin, Macquarrie says, “I don’t recommend a specific brand of gin for this punch. You should always use a quality gin no matter what you are doing. We have over thirty gins at Kimball House and almost any of them should will work in this punch. Avoid aged gins here.”
Aperol is a bright orange aperitif with a bitter edge that complements the herbal flavors in the gin.
6 lemons
1 (750-milliliter) bottle gin
1 (750-milliliter) bottle Aperol
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons simple syrup
1 1/2 liters club soda or seltzer
1 (750-milliliter) bottle sparkling rose
Ice
Use a paring knife or vegetable peeler to peel long strips of the colored peel of the lemons. Be careful not to include the bitter white pith. Twist each strip of peel to release the oils and then drop the peel into your punch bowl. Juice the lemons and strain the juice. You want to add 1 1/2 cups to the punch bowl.
Add the gin, Aperol and simple syrup. Add large chunks of ice and stir. Add seltzer and rose and stir. Serve immediately. Makes: 18 cups (48 3-ounce servings)
Per serving: 57 calories (percent of calories from fat, 2), trace protein, 2 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 8 milligrams sodium.
Whiskey Punch
This potent punch recipe from Kellie Thorn of Empire State South will teach you to make a bartender classic ingredient: oleo-saccharum. This mixture was a common way to add citrus flavor and aroma to early punches and is still used to extract lemon oil and use it to flavor sugar. The combination has uses away from the bar as it makes a great base for lemonade or to sweeten iced tea.
Thorn’s preferred bourbons for this recipe are Elijah Craig or Larceny. The apricot liqueur and madeira help open up the caramel and fruit flavors in the bourbon. Thorn uses Giffard Abricot du Roussillon and Broadbent Rainwater Madeira, available at Decatur Package Store and Holeman & Finch Bottle Shop. Fresh pineapple juice is available at the DeKalb Farmers Market.
3 lemons
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 (750-milliliter) bottle bourbon
1/2 cup fresh pineapple juice
1/4 cup apricot liqueur
1/4 cup Rainwater Madeira
1/2 cup water, more to taste
Grated fresh nutmeg, to garnish
Ice
The day before serving, start oleo-saccharum. Peel lemons as thinly as possible and cover with the sugar. Use a muddler to press the peels into the sugar. Cover this mixture and put aside overnight. The next day juice lemons and combine with the peel and sugar combination stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and strain off peels.
In your punch bowl, combine oleo-saccharum with bourbon, pineapple juice, apricot liqueur and madeira. Add 1/2 cup water, then refrigerate mixture for about 30 minutes. Taste and add more water or acid (in the form of lemon juice or pineapple juice) to taste. Remember that ice will dilute your punch as it sits in the punch bowl. Add ice and serve immediately. Makes: 5 cups (13 3-ounce servings)
Per serving: 159 calories (percent of calories from fat, 3), trace protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 1 milligram sodium.
Passion Punch
Bo Popovic created this recipe, which he considers pretty near perfect after much trial and error. Because the punch mixture is diluted with green tea, you can serve it in larger portions than our other recipes.
At Cook Hall, he uses Gosling’s Gold Seal Bermuda Gold Rum. Since this is difficult to find in local package stores, he suggests Angostura’s 7 Year or another lightly aged rum. Passion fruit pulp is sold frozen. Fourteen-ounce packages of Goya “Fruta” can be found in the Hispanic frozen foods aisle at the Buford Highway Farmers Market. Do not substitute passion fruit juice, which is in general a sweetened mixture of fruit juices.
For the sparkling wine, Popovic suggests any prosecco or other French sparkling wine from a non-champagne region. You should allow enough room in the glass for the wine to account for about 20 percent of the final drink.
Popovic dilutes the punch with freshly brewed green tea. He likes using mango-peach green tea in this recipe.
Simple syrup is made by combining 1 part water with 1 part granulated sugar. Heat the water and then remove it from heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cool and refrigerate for up to 1 month.
His garnish of charred pineapple is made by slicing a pineapple into 1-inch thick slices through its diameter and putting them on a hot grill to caramelize the sugars and make those delicious grill marks, then cutting the pineapple into smaller cubes to sit on the rim of the glass.
If you have room for a punch bowl in your refrigerator, you can combine everything up to 3 hours ahead of your party. Or chill all the components and then stir together just before your guests arrive.
6 1/4 cups brewed green tea
1 (1-liter) bottle gold rum
3 1/4 cups pineapple juice
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons thawed passion fruit pulp
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons simple syrup
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon St. Germain elderflower liqueur
Sparkling wine (see note)
Charred pineapple wheel and lemon thyme, for garnish
In a punch bowl, combine tea, rum, pineapple juice, passion fruit pulp, simple syrup and elderflower liqueur. Add ice. Add sparkling wine as each serving is poured. Makes: 19 cups (30 5-ounce servings)
Per serving: 181 calories (percent of calories from fat, 2), trace protein, 17 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium.
About the Author
The Latest
Featured
