12 Jan Boston Club Punch Cocktail Recipe

Boston Club Punch Cocktail Recipe

Maybe you’ve noticed a slowdown in our posting.

We’ve recently had to re-direct much of our attention to welcoming a new little member to our family. She’s been delightful, but for a while there she wasn’t leaving much time for cocktails. After seven weeks, we’re regaining our bearings. It might be a while before we get back to our previous pace, but we’re back on the path to making drinks, drinking them, and writing about it–oh, and to throwing parties.

Thankfully, the little one likes parties. She was born in DC, but as soon as was humanly possible we made our way up to Boston and immediately invited all of our friends over to meet the girl. She was a big hit, and it felt great to be hosting people again–our DC apartment’s too small for parties of more than, say, 3 people, which is now the size of our family.

Ever since we were properly introduced to true, classic punches, they’ve become our favored style of mixed drink for parties. Punch can easily be made ahead of time, which relieves the tension between mixing cocktails and other hosting duties. They’re low in alcohol, which is perfect for continuous sipping over a long period of time. And they keep well when left out for a while–in fact, they often improve with time. Our party punches have gone over well: people like the somewhat unfamiliar flavors; those who don’t usually drink cocktails appreciate the lower alcohol content; and those who do usually drink cocktails are impressed by the fact that the lower alcohol doesn’t come at a sacrifice of flavor.

All to say, we decided to serve punch at this party, specifically Boston Club punch. The name was perfect. The punch’s actual connection to Boston is slight: it comes from New Orleans’ Boston Club, rather than anyplace in Boston itself. But we just couldn’t resist serving a Boston Club punch to our own little Boston club. Also, the punch has a champagne base, which seemed particularly suitable to our brunch-time party.

While the punch is mostly wine, it contains little splashes of all sorts of fun other alcoholic ingredients which basically act as the punch’s seasoning. We bumped those up from the recommended amounts; we’re always the type who add more salt and pepper to the dish. We doubt this wine punch will permanently lure us away from ones with more base of a base spirit element, but if you’re looking for an interesting spin on a brunch drink for a big group, we recommend the Boston Club.

Ingredients

about a dozen servings

• 1 bottle of Champagne
• 3 1/2 oz of sugar
• the peel of 2 oranges–just the orange part, with as little white pith as possible.
• the juice of 2 oranges
• 1/6 of a pineapple, cut into chunks
• 3 oz raspberry syrup
• 1 oz Cognac–we beefed it up a little
• 1 oz cherry brandy (Kirschwasser)–we beefed that up a little too
• 1/2 oz Jamaican rum–ibid
• 1/2 oz orange liqueur–yep, this too
• 1 pint white wine
• 1 liter seltzer

Instructions

• Muddle the orange peels and sugar thoroughly.
• Let sit for at least 30 minutes, until the sugar has extracted the essential oil from the orange peels.
• Add the pineapple chunks and muddle some more.
• Add the orange juice and raspberry syrup, and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• Add wine, Cognac, cherry brandy, orange liqueur, and rum.
• You can prepare this far up to a few days ahead.
• Just before serving, add Champagne, seltzer, and ice.