Punch a popular cocktail for the holidays

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Punch a popular cocktail for the holidays

Photos: Not just for parties anymore; Atlanta area restaurants get in on the fun, Dec. 2013.

The Optimist's Artillery punch bowl.

Jerry Slater creates an oleo-saccharum by combining four lemon peels with 8 oz. of sugar before making a bowl of Cadet punch at his bar/restaurant H. Harper Station in Atlanta.

Slater uses a bartender's muddler to crush the lemon peel and sugar.

Slater adds a 750 ml bottle of rye whiskey to the oleo-saccharum mixture to create a bowl of Cadet punch.

Slater mixes the concoction through and through.

Slater adds 750 ml of cold water to the rye whiskey/oleo-saccharum mixture.

The Cadet punch nears readiness.

Slater adds 12 hard shakes of Angostura bitters to the mix.

Angostura bitters, often simply referred to as bitters, is a concentrated bitters made of water, 44.7% alcohol, herbs and spices, by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. It is typically used for flavoring beverages, or (less often) food. - Wikipedia

“The aroma is really nice,” Slater says of the Cadet punch. - Text by Bob Townsend, for the AJC

“It tastes pretty good, too," says Slater. "The oleo-saccharum develops such a wonderful depth of flavor, you don’t need much more than that.” - Text by Bob Townsend, for the AJC

When Slater opened H. Harper Station in 2011 in the old Atlanta & West Point Railroad Freight Depot on Memorial Drive, punch wasn’t really happening in Atlanta, yet. But the inviting vintage space with its flickering gas lights seemed to cry out for sharing spirits from the past. - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

The “original monarch of mixed drinks” is what cocktail historian David Wondrich called punch in his influential 2010 book of the same name. - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

Cadet Punch is a simplified version of Chatham Artillery Punch, a powerful concoction that dates back to the 1850s, when one Georgia regiment welcomed another home to Savannah with a bang.

“It really is about conviviality, sharing a bowl of something with folks," Slater says. "And they really get into it. You see people deciding who gets the ladle and it’s really fun to watch. That’s the idea behind it.” - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

Slater, who has some of the shy, friendly air of the child actor, Jackie Cooper, is a whiskey expert and well-known mixologist, with a degree in literature, a love of Faulkner and a background as director of restaurants at the upscale Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Ky. - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

“I wanted to make something for punch beginners, or cadets,” Slater says. “To me, it’s almost like a really good old fashioned. And it changes as the ice begins to melt. It gets different and lighter.” - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

“Our punches are basically the price of four cocktails, even though you’re getting enough for about six people to share, so it’s a good value,” Slater says. - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

“Historically, the punch bowl is about celebration and being with friends and family,” Slater says. “So that really fits with the holiday spirit.” - Text by Bob Townsend for the AJC

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The Optimist's Artillery punch bowl.

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