"Punch is a host's secret weapon: It can be made in advance, frees you from bartending duty all night and sets the tone with a festive centerpiece. Plus, it's endlessly adaptable to the season, like an allspice-and-rye blend (see the Sand Dunes Punch recipe below) that tastes like Christmas ladled into a cup. As Vince Polizzi, bar manager at Adrift Tiki Bar and a punch enthusiast, puts it: "Punches are a communal drink - and the holidays are innately communal.""
"When it comes to making punches to please a crowd, you can remember a Caribbean rhyme to understand proportions: "One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak." For the weak part, skip diluting your punch with water. Polizzi likes to brew an artisanal loose-leaf tea, and finds some great tea blends with spices at Old Barrel Tea company, which has locations in Golden and Denver."
""To me, the secret of a great punch is a high-quality tea," he said. "It brings down the ABV, so you can drink throughout the evening without embarrassing yourself in front of your grandma." Plus, aged rums and brandies have tannins and the tea kind of interacts with that, making for a sip that tastes festive and nostalgic. Another way to punch up your punch, Polizzi said, is with an oleo saccharum."
Punch functions as a make-ahead, communal holiday beverage that frees hosts from bartending and serves as a festive centerpiece. Punches trace back to 18th-century America and commonly used brandy, rum or Madeira. A guiding proportion is one sour, two sweet, three strong, four weak. Use brewed loose-leaf tea instead of plain water to lower ABV, add spice, and interact with tannins in aged spirits. Prepare an oleo saccharum by macerating citrus peels with sugar at least a day ahead. Choose high-quality, additive-free rums such as Appleton Estate, Foursquare, Mount Gay or El Dorado for best results.
Read at Boston Herald
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