Ingredients
| 400ml lemongrass and ginger tea | |
| 200g lemon and thyme oleo (see Notes) | |
| 200ml hibiscus grenadine (see Notes) | |
| 200ml lemon juice | |
| 200ml brandy | |
| 200ml rye whiskey | |
| 200ml oloroso sherry or semi-dry madeira | |
| 400ml ginger beer | |
| 4 cinnamon sticks | |
| 6 star anise | |
| orange wheels and mint sprigs (or really anything pretty you have to hand), to garnish | |
| cubed ice or decorative ice cubes | |
| EQUIPMENT | |
| Punch bowl or other large decorative bowl | |
| serving glasses | |
| measuring jug | |
| scale, juicer | |
| bar spoon, ladle |
The classic punch proportion has a handy little rhyme to help you remember it: one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong and four of weak. The sour usually comes from lemon or lime, but verjus can be a nice replacement. The sweet generally starts with an oleo (see lemon and thyme oleo), which is built upon by liqueurs or syrups. The strong is spirits and fortified wines, and the weak is tea, water and/or soda water. Spices and other fruits double up as flavour enhancers and pretty garnishes. This recipe makes about 10-15 serves depending on how generous your pour is, so just scale up or down from there!
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Instructions
| 1. | Add the tea while still warm to the oleo and stir to dissolve the sugar. |
| 2. | Add everything else to the bowl, including the garnishes. |
| 3. | When ready to serve, add ice and ladle into individual glasses. |
| 4. | NON-ALCOHOLIC OPTION |
| 5. | Leave out the booze and just use a combination of oleo, syrups or shrubs, fruit juices, teas and soda water (club soda) to make a delicious non- alcoholic punch. |
| 6. | TRY INSTEAD |
| 7. | It’s honestly hard to make a bad punch! As long as you taste for balance, let your creativity run wild. |