The Punch Topic

[Chris Amirault]

A block is a solid chunk of ice that can sit in your punch bowl without making the punch spill out. So you'll need to do a little measuring with water and a half gallon or gallon bottle that you can submerge while all are in the sink.

[FrogPrincesse]

My favorite punch for these types of events is the Fish House Punch, which is also described in the Punch thread. The base is dark rum + cognac. It's delicious, can be made in advance, and leftovers keep very well.

[Lisa Shock]

I am in the Orange Punch crowd that Mr Wondrich writes so eloquently about. (although sometimes I use clementines)

[FrogPrincesse]

So, if there was ever any doubt, by his own admission Jeff Morgenthaler is just a lazy bastard and he has illustrated his oleo-saccharum vacuum technique in a new video for Small Screen Network.

Some people painstakingly muddle their lemon peel and sugar bny hand; lately I’ve been processing mine in a stand mixer.

I like his approach. I don’t have a vacuum sealer but was going to throw everything in a ziplock bag for my annual Fish House Punch, and see what happens.

http://youtu.be/wbrzL9LQTaM

[Hassouni]

I'm going to be making a Regent's Punch (the original Wondrich recipe) in a few days, and this oleosaccharum thing has me intrigued (I've seen it on JM's blog for a while). I have neither stand mixer nor vacuum sealer. I wonder if the ziplock really will do the trick...

Also, Wondrich's recipe calls for:

16 oz tea

8 oz cognac

2 oz rum

2 oz arrack

2 oz pineapple syrup

the juice of a few citrus fruits, say another 8-10 oz.

a bottle of champagne (25 or so oz) "or two if you're feeling flush," as he said.

With one bottle of Champagne this works out to ~64 oz, but he said it serves about 8. Isn't a standard serving of punch 5 oz?

Also, how good of a sub is WN overproof for the Batavia arrack? Cos that ain't easy to find...

[Rafa]

I've tried The Morgenthaler Method™ with a standard ziplock bag and it works just fine.

[Plantes Vertes]

I'm going to be making a Regent's Punch (the original Wondrich recipe) in a few days, and this oleosaccharum thing has me intrigued (I've seen it on JM's blog for a while). I have neither stand mixer nor vacuum sealer. I wonder if the ziplock really will do the trick...

Also, Wondrich's recipe calls for:

16 oz tea

8 oz cognac

2 oz rum

2 oz arrack

2 oz pineapple syrup

the juice of a few citrus fruits, say another 8-10 oz.

a bottle of champagne (25 or so oz) "or two if you're feeling flush," as he said.

With one bottle of Champagne this works out to ~64 oz, but he said it serves about 8. Isn't a standard serving of punch 5 oz?

Also, how good of a sub is WN overproof for the Batavia arrack? Cos that ain't easy to find...

Do you know anybody who drinks only one glass of punch? If you do, don't trust them.

[Hassouni]

Well it's not the only thing I'll be serving...

[FrogPrincesse]

I've tried The Morgenthaler Method with a standard ziplock bag and it works just fine.

Here we go then. We will see what it looks like tomorrow.

T=0

[Hassouni]

with baited breath we wait!

[FrogPrincesse]

T=5 hours

It looks like it is working, slowly but surely.

[FrogPrincesse]

Morning update - looking good. The bag smells fantastic. I will mix the punch tonight.

[Hassouni]

I just did the same for a Regent's punch, and can confirm that a vacuum seal is entirely unnecessary! Thanks for taking the photographic evidence plunge, Princesse!

Edited to add....how the hell does one get every last drop of the stuff out of the bag?

Edited November 26, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[Chris Amirault]

A vacuum seal does seem to speed things along. And I always rinse the interior out with the booze mixed for the punch itself. If there's a bit extra, well, I guess I'm having a special Old Fashioned.

[sbumgarner]

I'll have to the give this ziplock bag technique a try. Sam's suggestion up-thread to use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment is my current go-to when I want to spare myself the tendonitis, but I see the merits of this too, especially for doing thing ahead of time.

[FrogPrincesse]

I just did the same for a Regent's punch, and can confirm that a vacuum seal is entirely unnecessary! Thanks for taking the photographic evidence plunge, Princesse!

Edited to add....how the hell does one get every last drop of the stuff out of the bag?

You are welcome. To get everything out I added the lemon juice to the bag, and transferred the contents into the mixing bowl.

[Hassouni]

Ah, so simple and yet it eluded me! Thanks Chris and FP!

[FrogPrincesse]

Here is the Fish House Punch, which I have decided to store undiluted to take up less space in the fridge. I will dilute it 1:1 with water before serving it tomorrow.

[Hassouni]

Oh man. Hosted another pop-up cocktail bar last night, and the Regent's Punch was one of four drinks served.

I followed the classic Wondrich recipe, with some substitutions:

Hennessey VS and the remainders of a bottle of Kyrgyzstani "cognac" for that element

WN overproof and Dillon rhum blanc agricole for the Batavia Arrack

Red navel oranges instead of regular oranges, and a slightly tart, large satsuma for the bitter orange.

2 bottle of Crémant de Bourgogne brut for the champagne

What a corker of a drink. Somewhat of a pain, but so worth it for the wild praise it received.

[Hassouni]

Re: oleosaccharum - might it work with pomegranate seeds as opposed to citrus peel?

[FrogPrincesse]

Re: oleosaccharum - might it work with pomegranate seeds as opposed to citrus peel?

No idea. We should ask Erik how his pomegranate shrub experiment went.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ellestad/status/431664300273696768?screen_name=ellestad

[Chris Amirault]

Is there oleo in those pomegranate seeds? You want that aromatic oil....

[Hassouni]

Hm, good point...

[BillBuitenhuys]

Forgive me if this in the wrong thread...

Most punch recipes that call for arrack specify sugarcane/rice-based Batavia Arrack (Indonesia). Where does coconut-based arrack (Sri Lanka) fit into punch history? Given that so much trade was done between India and Britain it seems likely that coconut arrack could have been used in early punch vs batavia.

If punch did come from the Hindi "paanch" (five)...and I understand that connection is debatable...then coconut arrack would be the arrack of choice.

I guess I need to read Wondrich but certainly interested in the collective thoughts here.

Has anyone here tried making a Sri Lankan arrack based punch? I'll probably mail order some (White Lion) as none is brought into AZ as I'm pretty curious about this.

Edited August 26, 2014 by BillBuitenhuys (log)

[tanstaafl2]

Forgive me if this in the wrong thread...

Most punch recipes that call for arrack specify sugarcane/rice-based Batavia Arrack (Indonesia). Where does coconut-based arrack (Sri Lanka) fit into punch history? Given that so much trade was done between India and Britain it seems likely that coconut arrack could have been used in early punch vs batavia.

If punch did come from the Hindi "paanch" (five)...and I understand that connection is debatable...then coconut arrack would be the arrack of choice.

I guess I need to read Wondrich but certainly interested in the collective thoughts here.

Has anyone here tried making a Sri Lankan arrack based punch? I'll probably mail order some (White Lion) as none is brought into AZ as I'm pretty curious about this.

 

Prefessor Wondrich is no doubt likely to be your best source. I recall there was a Bombay President's Punch (or something like that) in his book "Punch" that was pretty basic. Nothing else comes to mind. I have the Ceylon brand of palm or "coconut" arrack but it is relatively low proof (80 pf I think) without a really strong distinguishing character to the spirit as I recall, unlike the much more interesting but very different sugar cane/red rice based Batavia Arrack. Looks like the White Lion arrack is even lower in proof?