Craft bartenders may have the next hit on their hands.
“Bring back the punch,” said Dan Warner, brand ambassador for Beefeater Gin, at last week’s Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans. Noted, too, at Tales: David Wondrich — cocktail historian and author of James Beard award-winning Imbibe! — is now working on a book about punch, the centuries-old communal concoction of citrus, sugar, spice, water and spirits.
Also in attendance at Tales — aka “the most spirited event of the summer” — was St. Louis master mixologist Ted Kilgore. When Niche Taste Bar, the cocktail lounge next to Niche Restaurant, opens on Tuesday, Kilgore plans to have two punches on the chalkboard.
One will be based on Mother’s Ruin, a punch created by Philip Ward at New York’s Death & Co.: gin, Earl Grey-infused sweet vermouth, lemon juice, grapefruit juice and fresh raspberries, topped with sparkling wine. Another, Kilgore’s Rooibos Rum Punch, will feature rooibos tea-infused bianco vermouth, lime juice, pineapple juice and sparkling.
And yes, Kilgore will be using punch bowls, each with a big block of ice. “It’s like mixing a giant cocktail,” he said.
This article appears in Jul 1-31, 2009.