Punch on a budget

[Adam George]

I've got two bottles of Eggnog in my fridge from Christmas, based on Jeff Morgenthaler's assertion that he aged his for a year. In seven months I'll either be back to report on the results, or suffering in hospital from severe salmonella. Will let you know either way.

I used roughly Morgathaler's blender recipe (Super Easy) and wasn't convinced it had enough booze in it to risk more than a few days (I was serving the public) I would have kept it for longer if it were just me.

Did you use his proportions?

[Rafa]

Rafa,

If you don't want to use rum, something like Phil Ward's Mother's Ruin punch is very nice. I use Beefeater gin (~ $15 for a bottle) and Cremant for the Champagne component ($10-$15). Grab a few extra Cremant bottles so your guests can have that if they are not in the mood for a punch, or if you run out of punch.

I ended up serving a bowl of Mother's Ruin last night, made with Broker's gin, Cocchi vermouth, and slightly less sugar than the recipe called for. It was a hit. After tasting I added a bit of Maraschino for complexity and some cinnamon, which along with the grapefruit gave it a slight Tiki feel. We ran out within an hour. Next time I'll probably use a little less grapefruit so that the other ingredients shine more.

I also served a sangria made with a few strawberries, blackberries, tangerines, and lemons macerated in a mix of Cocchi Americano Rosa, Weller 12, Aperol, Luxardo Maraschino, soda water, and a touch of allspice dram. Popular, but to my palate a little unbalanced. The Cocchi is naturally sweet enough that it requires very little extra sweetening, and acidic enough that not much lemon is required. Between this, some sparkling wine I left out, and some lovely bourbons my friends brought, we had drinks all night.

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

I think Mother's Ruin Punch would be a big hit, and as you say thrifty with Beefeater or Broker's (also around $15) and a Cremant (which is my usual cost-saving strategy when a recipe calls for Champagne and I feel like something more complex than cheap Prosecco or Cava).

I may do that and a big sangria-type punch with a couple of bottles of Cocchi Americano Rosa or Lillet Rose (~$16).

Great! I will be making a batch of Mother's Ruin Punch very soon as well; this has become our family tradition for mother's day (together with FHP for the holiday season).

Please do share what you come up with for your sangria-type punch since that sounds like a great idea as well.

And on that note happy mother's day! Hope you enjoyed your punch.

[FrogPrincesse]

I ended up serving a bowl of Mother's Ruin last night, made with Broker's gin, Cocchi vermouth, and slightly less sugar than the recipe called for. It was a hit. After tasting I added a bit of Maraschino for complexity and some cinnamon, which along with the grapefruit gave it a slight Tiki feel. We ran out within an hour. Next time I'll probably use a little less grapefruit so that the other ingredients shine more.

I also served a sangria made with a few strawberries, blackberries, tangerines, and lemons macerated in a mix of Cocchi Americano Rosa, Weller 12, Aperol, Luxardo Maraschino, soda water, and a touch of allspice dram. Popular, but to my palate a little unbalanced. The Cocchi is naturally sweet enough that it requires very little extra sweetening, and acidic enough that not much lemon is required. Between this, some sparkling wine I left out, and some lovely bourbons my friends brought, we had drinks all night.

[...]

And on that note happy mother's day! Hope you enjoyed your punch.

Thanks Rafa. We had a tiki-themed mother's day (hence the background decor), but I decided to stay with the Mother's Ruin Punch because that is what I was in the mood for. I used Bombay Sapphire gin (not my first choice but I am making an effort to clean up my liquor cabinet...), a fresh bottle of Dolin vermouth and Cremant de Bourgogne for the sparkling.

I tweaked the recipe a little for simplicity and ended up with:

(yield: 2 drinks)

1.5 oz gin

3/4 oz sweet vermouth

1.5 oz grapefruit juice

3/4 oz lemon juice

3/4 oz simple syrup

top with ~ 1.5 oz sparkling wine

Edited May 15, 2013 by FrogPrincesse (log)