Cannabis, Cognac & Rum Punch
Punch is an easy way to show your appreciation to your guests, and what better way than with the brightest and freshest of fruits of the season?
May I suggest first empowering your bar-backs if you work in a bar. What? Aren’t they more concerned with making your fresh juices and polishing the glassware? Well, they should be doing that, and then some. When you truly want to raise the bar, and promote from the bottom up, the best way that I know how to find talented future bartenders is through the art of Punch. Punch is a congenial drink, meant to be enjoyed in groups.
It takes an understanding of the classics, starting with an early cocktailian named Jerry Thomas. Mr. Thomas, for all intents and purposes, is our inspiration for what we consider the classic cocktails in the present tense. He was plying his cocktailian craft a hundred or more years before you disappointed your grandparents by throwing away that law degree in favor of slinging Ramos Gin Fizzes to thirsty hordes of newly minted revelers.
They never really got over that.
Jerry Thomas wrote a famous book over a hundred years ago, named The Bartenders Guide. (Also known as “how to mix drinks. “This book was sometimes known as: The Bon-Vivant's Companion). His work is as relevant today as it was in the 1840’s, and maybe even more so now with the rediscovery of these classic cocktails and Jerry Thomas’ nostalgic methodology. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I think the first thing a bar owner or restaurant owner should do is get a copy of Jerry’s book “How to Mix Drinks” and start working out of it… especially the chapter about Punch.
I think a good place to start is by explaining what a very wise bartender (my mentor) named Chris James once taught me. He said, “don’t throw it out.” Don’t throw what out? The last ¼ inch of a bottle. Work with flavors - save it for punch - it’s liquid money and it doesn’t go down the drain. I never forgot this lesson, just like I never forgot the lessons that I learned when I worked as a cook. There are things that we can do to save the house money, and other things that will get us fired. I’d rather keep my job and make money for the house than have to search for another one because I was foolish and poured ‘that’ bottle down the drain. Save it for Punch!
Jerry Thomas Cannabis, Cognac & Rum Punch
As interpreted by me with seasonal embellishments... like Cognac over plain brandy and the use of Champagne instead of plain water. And the addition of an ungodly amount of weed in the simple syrup.... recipe below for the infused simple.
Ingredients
2-750ml bottles of fine sparkling wine or preferably, Champagne
1-750ml bottle XO quality level Cognac
1 bottle of overproof Jamaican Rum - please find a natural one without added sugar or caramel coloring added. Try to find Long Pond, Worthy Park or Monymusk.... ok, they’re 80 or so proof… or if you’re lucky try to source a bottle of The Funk, which is just that, a funky tasting Jamaican 100 proof rum.
Two 12 oz. cans of Pickett’s Extra Hot and Spicy Ginger Beer soda
1 cup Double Simple Syrup infused with cannabis. (2:1 Turbinado Sugar to just simmering water, reduce by ½)
16 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
16 oz. freshly squeezed orange juice
4 oz. Grand Marnier - DO NOT USE TRIPLE SEC, It will ruin your punch.
3 oz. Grenadine syrup
1 whole pineapple sliced and grilled until nicely caramelized and charred, cut into manageable cubes
2 oranges sliced into rounds and grilled
2 lemons sliced into rounds and grilled
1 package of organic raspberries – frozen overnight in the freezer
Prep:
Mix all the ingredients in a large punch bowl.
Add a block of ice to dilute and add coolness to the punch.
Serve in teacups with a smile.
Always have plenty of cool water on hand to drink and to dilute your punch if necessary.
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