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:
- Crack some spices: I’ve done pepper + cardamom, pepper + coriander + allspice.
- Macerate equal volume of fresh fruit and sugar, mix in spices. Let sit for 5 hours on cool countertop or in fridge.
- 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.
- Strain (chinois and/or cheesecloth). Bottle, let sit in fridge for another week to mellow (if you can).
- 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.
Claudine 10:41 pm on Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Permalink
Thank you for the tasty, amazing punch. I’m a lucky girl.