Chicago’s Visiting Punch 

Last Friday Nora and Kevin were in town from Chicago for Brishine’s wedding, and since they were here, we entertained a few folks at our place. To keep 15 or so people happy for a few hours and get the cheap thrill of making something other people appreciate, I knocked out a punch in the style of Alton’s Cape Fear Punch. The style breaks down to four basic components: tea, booze, citrus, and spice. I put on my own spin, of course, adding wormwood and anise hyssop flowers from the garden, and spiking with my homemade keffir leaf vodka and blueberry shrub. It turned out a good punch, though I’m sure the recipe could use some refining. For the sake of posterity, I present it here.

  • 1 tbsp diksam bps
  • 1 tsp lapsang souchong

Steep in 375 mL near-boiling hot water for 3 minutes. Then add:

  • zest of 1 large lemon
  • 1 frond wormwood (smaller than my hand)
  • 6 anise hyssop flowers
  • 375 mL Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
  • 150 mL Light Rum (Bacardi)
  • 225 mL Cognac (Bisquit Classique VS)
  • 80 mL Keffir Leaf Vodka (steeped/mellowed over a year)

Set in the fridge for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.

When people start arriving, send the wife to greet them, strain the punch into a 6.5 quart pot, add:

  • 1 L sparkling water
  • 750 mL Rose Cava
  • 2 fl oz original blueberry shrub (see below)
  • 1 oz white sugar (Demerara would have been better)
  • juice of two large lemons
  • 1 lime, sliced, slices cut in quarters
  • 1 large orange, sliced, slices cut in quarters
  • a few fresh anise flowers, for garnish
  • Fresh grated nutmeg, to taste

Leave the nutmeg and a microplane next to the punch pot, so folks can add additional spice to their own drinks, if desired. Encourage them to do so. It really makes a difference.

If I were to do this again, I would probably decrease the amount of Bacardi, increase the amount of Keffir vodka, and increase the amount of shrub. Also, I’m not a huge fan of the rose cava, that’s just all we had around. A sweeter white cava or prosecco would have done nicely.

Basic Shrub recipe:

  1. Crack some spices: I’ve done pepper + cardamom, pepper + coriander + allspice.
  2. Macerate equal volume of fresh fruit and sugar, mix in spices. Let sit for 5 hours on cool countertop or in fridge.
  3. Stir in volume of vinegar (apple cider recommended) so that fruit:sugar:vinegar volume ratio is 1:1:1. Add a little salt. Back in fridge for a week, stirring daily.
  4. Strain (chinois and/or cheesecloth). Bottle, let sit in fridge for another week to mellow (if you can).
  5. Store in fridge. If you don’t plan to use it within the first few weeks, I’m told adding a little vodka (.5oz per pint of original vinegar) will help it keep longer.

Based almost directly off of Neyah White’s shrub recipe, though I prefer a little less sugar and salt than he calls for. My original blueberry shrub recipe used 1 quart fresh blueberries, 1 quart white sugar, and 1 quart apple cider vinegar. I stuck to the same spices he used: 1 oz black peppercorns and 5 cardamom pods. I don’t remember exactly how much salt I used, but I know I prefer less than the 1 oz called for in his recipe.