In light of the coming New Year's celebrations I have not one, but two, featured sippers to share this week. They both also just happen to be ideal for serving all of the guests who show up at your party, to wet their palates before you pop the bottles of champagne. The punches are the rum-induced Honey Spiced Punch and the genever-laden Old Sydney-Town Punch.
Neither is an ordinary punch, however, and are sure to make a big splash on New Year's Eve. The first, the Honey Spiced Punch (recipe), was created by Erick Castro of San Fransisco's The Rickhouse and is an amazing double-duty drink that is interesting in its complexity and intriguing in its sweet taste. It includes both aged rum and cachaça, both honey and simple syrup, and Velvet Falernum. This one is also sparkling so it is the perfect primer for the bubbly that comes later in the evening.
The Old Sydney-Town Punch (recipe) lends a different, old-world flavor to a punch, but in this case it is genever. To add to the interesting flavor of that style of gin, H. Joseph Ehrmann (Elixir Saloon, San Francisco) brings out two more intriguing ingredients: St. Elizabeth's Allspice Dram and pineapple gum syrup. The result is an herbal, tropical punch that in quite invigorating in these chilly nights.
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