We had a party last Saturday (sorry I didn't invite you), and I wanted to make a grown-up punch to serve. I think it's nice to provide an unusual cocktail, and this way, no one was tied to the "bar" - the tub full of PBR, maybe? - all night shaking up a special champagne pomagranate-tini or whatever.
However, when I tried to find the GQ article I'd saved about throwing a perfect dinner party (including several punch recipes), all my roommates and boyfriend made ruthless fun of me. Whatever, eff them, it was some damn good punch.
We started with a bottle of Old Grandad 100 Proof and added two cans of frozen lemonade concentrate, a dash of bitters and some grated ginger. We filled some old growlers (from Montana!) with the concentrated punch - since they're obviously not getting any use up here in Maine.
When it was party time, we filled the growler about 2/3rds full with some lemon seltzer and served over ice with a mint garnish. And it was damn good! Sparkly, sweet, and tangy, without being too boozy (although I was happy to drink the concentrated version, I think serving that to a house full of people would have resulted in sure disaster). Had we been a little bit more prepared, we would have frozen a block of ice with some pretty lemon slices in it.
What are your favorite booze punch recipes? I think it's hard to go wrong with booze, juice concentrate, and something fizzy. I think this would also be good with sparkling wine instead of the seltzer. I can't wait for more chances to make some spring punch - maybe a brunch punch!