Punch

It’s a fun thing, drinking alcohol but most of the alcoholic drinks been perfected over time.  You’ve got beer, not many variations on beer.  Gin and Tonic, Rye and Coke, Rum and Coke, Rye and Ginger, Rye and 7-Up and so on.  Vodka still seems foreign to me, the whole martini thing, I don’t understand.  Some people just don’t care what they put in their drinks, as long as it’s cold and they can taste the alcohol.  Some like lime on the side, straight, on the rocks.  It’s a long list but something you learn through drinking, learn from different people and from various jerk bartenders who let you know the name of what you are asking for.   But not drinking alcohol is a different beast altogether and it’s something I’ve been doing since March, a few months.  I haven’t been tempted other than the fact that I still go to restaurants and bars and am clueless about what to drink.  So I’ve been drinking lots of water and coffee and tea and that’s getting boring.  So I’ve started creating non-alcoholic drinks and I’ll make a non-alcoholic punch for the Johnson Reunion.  

There are different kinds of punch, most are bubbly, some are fruity, as in using really fruit juice.  Generally they are all not very strong and are reminiscent of a chick drink but you can make some that are stiff, usually tonic based.  The big difference between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks is that strange taste of alcohol and how it mixes with other liquids. 

Most punches are difficult to make, a number of steps, recipes are longwinded and clearly put together by doughty homemakers.  The involve simple sugars and various levels of fruit juices, carbonated drinks and grenadine, always grenadine.   The ones I’ve tried of course don’t have alcohol and they have been boring, the problem is that as you drink more alcohol, generally it starts tasting better and things get very strange as the night goes on.  With non-alcoholic punches, as you get closer to the bottom of the barrel, there is more sugar so things get very strange as the night goes on.  

Various problems with punches are keeping it cold, especially if it’s outside for a while.  The cost of the ingredients, fruit juices, fresh limes and lemons, pop, carbonated water blah blah blah, there are so many ingredients going on.  Have to decide whether to put it in a nice bowl and ladle or have it in a bin surrounded with ice.  Then there is the sugar part and whether we will serve this stuff to kids.  There is a recipe below made with wine which may be a favorite or least favorite depending on the child.  Hopefully, there is something that doesn’t make them wild things looking for their next fix, that means the simple sugars will be kept to a minimum. 

Then there’s the taste, many people don’t like tonic water, I don’t like Clamato juice close to any drink and it shouldn’t be too sweet.  So I’ve got some work in front of me.  If you have a great recipe, pass it on, I would like to try it.  Please pass it on todjleonardj@gmail.com.  If you are going to be a punch drinker at the reunion, give the post on the Johnson Reunion facebook page a LIKE so I can know how many litres I should make.

Here’s a couple recipes, I’ve tried

MOCK PINK CHAMPAGNE
 

½ cup sugar
1 cup water
1 6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 6 oz. can frozen grapefruit juice concentrate
1 28 oz. bottle chilled ginger ale
1/3 cup bottled grenadine syrup 

Early in day mix sugar with water in a saucepan and bring to boil for 5 minutes.  Cool.  Add frozen juice concentrates.  Refrigerate.  At serving time, add ginger ale and grenadine syrup.  Stir slightly. Serve in champagne or wine glasses.  Makes 3 pints.

S.S.S. (STAY SOBER SANGRIA)

1 bottle Cabernet Sauvignon non-alcoholic wine
¾ cup raspberries
¾ cup sweetened strawberries
1/3 cup apple juice
½ banana
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cranberry juice
black cherry soda 

Blend and refrigerate until ready to make the drinks.  To make one drink, use one cup of mix blended with one scoop of ice. Top off with black cherry soda.  Serves 8-10.

GINGER BEER

4 lemons                                                 
¾ cup sugar
1 orange                                                  
1¼ cups orange juice
¾ cup roughly chopped fresh ginger
4 cups sparkling mineral water, chilled
¾ cup honey 

Grate 2 tablespoons each of lemon and orange zest.  Squeeze 1/3 cup lemon juice from 3 of the lemons.  Set aside.  In a food processor, pulse the ginger, honey, and sugar until just combined.  Add the orange and lemon juices and process.  Transfer to a large lidded container.  Add the orange and lemon zests and 2 cups of boiling water and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours and up to 5 days.  To serve, stain the ginger-beer base into a pitcher.  Thinly slice the remaining lemon and orange to form circles.  Add the slices and mineral water to the pitcher and stir.  Serve over ice.  Makes 8 to 10 servings.