Master of Cocktails – A basic gin punch recipe

Hopefully you were all paying attention during the last #MasterofCocktails, as we made the most important part of this week’s drink(s) a week in advance – the Oleo-Saccharum (a fancy term for sugared peel).

There’s nowt better than being able to have your guests serve themselves amazing punch, and sorting the Oleo-Saccharum ahead of time will save you a load of effort. You also won’t have to ‘work’ the sugar into the peel, and will also ultimately yield better results.

In case you did miss it, let’s have a look at how you should make your own Oleo-Saccharum a week in advance in preparation for making your Gin Punch…

The sugar rips the essential oils out of the peel as they gently macerate over the course of the week. Now you can do this in a pinch by ‘working’ the sugar into the peel, but that’s quite hard, so we’re going to use the power of ‘leaving it the hell alone’ for a week. So. Begin with 4 lemons…

Peel ’em:

And sling them into a freezer bag with about 35g sugar per lemon.

Squeeze the air out of the bag, and bung it into the fridge along with the peeled lemons.

After a week, you’ll be all set to make your Gin Punch. Everyone ready? Let’s get to it…

You’ll be needing these…

List of Ingredients (Basic Gin Punch)

• 300ml Oleo-Saccharum and Juice of 4 Lemons (or whatever quantity you produce)
• 300ml Bathtub Gin
• 300ml Soda Water

(For Gin and Soda, use whatever quantity you’re working to)

Optional

• Juice of a Pink Grapefruit
• 40ml Bénédictine D.O.M. Liqueur

Grab your baggie out of the fridge, and whip the de-peeled lemons out as well…

Chop ’em in half, and add the juice to the bag. Give it a smush about to dissolve all the sugar.

Now strain, and measure what you’ve got. Those 4 lemons made 300ml in my case.

This 300ml will form the basis of the recipe, but adjust to whatever quantity you churned out.

For making the basic punch, this really couldn’t be simpler. Take your 300ml (or whatever quantity you’re working to) and add 300ml of Gin. I’m using Bathtub for this punch.

Finally, gently add 300ml of Soda Water. Told you it was easy.

And (basically) that’s it. Serve it from a punch-bowl if you’ve got one. Even better if you’ve got some clear ice…

Clear Ice much like this. Oh yes.

I’ve also sliced a lemon to make it all pretty, like…

In this instance I’m adding the juice of a pink grapefruit, and about 40ml Bénédictine.

Et Voila. The finished article.

Gin Punch. A bread-and-butter staple.

Enjoy!

 

No prep required for next week, just grab yourself these simple ingredients:

Next week, you’ll be needing these…
Hine Rare VSOP Cognac, Port, Eggs and Nutmeg. (Oh, and Sugar Syrup and Angostura Bitters too!)

Ben