In our #ThirstyThursday series, TIPSY AND TAN, we ask consummate mixologists from New York City’s white-hot new restaurants and bars to create OC-exclusive drinks for our readers. Drinking on the job? Don't mind if we do...
The mark of a party-savvy host or hostess might just be the punch bowl: the best punches leave guests tipsy, balancing booze, sugar, and citrus just right. The worst punches simply get everyone a little too drunk too quickly, leading the party directly into the booze-filled sessions that summers are meant for.
The beauty of the punch bowl is in the effort, or rather, the lack thereof: Make the concentrate in advance, and add water, fixings, and a giant ice cube (made from a bundt-cake mold) the day of. To come up with the perfectly tart, boozy, and fruity concoction, we hit up the founders of MOUTH.COM, the indie food purveyor with a new small-batch spirits and wine SHOP in Brooklyn. The result? A bright rhubarb-centric punch, with ruby red grapefruit juice and a dash of bitters.
“We wanted a summer recipe, and I personally love rhubarb as a flavor myself so I’m always looking for new recipes for this rhubarb tea liqueur,” Mouth CEO Craig Kanarick says. “It’s also not your classic fruit punch. When I think fruit punch I think Kool-Aid, or a red fruit punch, something where you don't know what you're drinking. What’s great about this is the flavor of the rhubarb comes in clean.”
From behind the bar...
Name: Craig Kanarick
If this drink had a soundtrack what would it be? "Birth in Reverse" by St. Vincent
Your summer getaway: Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont
Best place to get day drunk: Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont
Signs of being overserved: Nonstop eating of the pickles; Eating the rinds of the cheese; Hugging the dog; Taking a selfie
What’s the secret to making great punch? The real trick to punch is to make sure it’s cold when you first start out, so when you put the ice in it, it doesn’t melt immediately. If you’re serving punch outside, and it’s really hot, make sure you fill the punch bowl in portions so it doesn’t water down; just put out enough and make sure you’re attending it over and over again. Or start it really strong and let it water down.
Tell me about the punch—why is it a great party drink? Well, these are great, American-made indie spirits that maybe your friends aren’t going to know about, and there’s a story behind these spirits. So this punch has an, I’m going to say it, ice breaker built in. They’ll say, “Tell me about the punch!” and you can say, “Well, let me tell you rhubarb. Did you know that rhubarb leaves are poisonous but the stems are not? And Benjamin Franklin originally brought rhubarb to Philadelphia as a gift to a friend who was a botanist?”
What’s your favorite hangover cure?
My biggest hangover cure is kids. They force you to wake up really quickly and get over it. But some of my friends swear by Switchel; it&rs
The mark of a party-savvy host or hostess might just be the punch bowl: the best punches leave guests tipsy, balancing booze, sugar, and citrus just right. The worst punches simply get everyone a little too drunk too quickly, leading the party directly into the booze-filled sessions that summers are meant for.
The beauty of the punch bowl is in the effort, or rather, the lack thereof: Make the concentrate in advance, and add water, fixings, and a giant ice cube (made from a bundt-cake mold) the day of. To come up with the perfectly tart, boozy, and fruity concoction, we hit up the founders of MOUTH.COM, the indie food purveyor with a new small-batch spirits and wine SHOP in Brooklyn. The result? A bright rhubarb-centric punch, with ruby red grapefruit juice and a dash of bitters.
“We wanted a summer recipe, and I personally love rhubarb as a flavor myself so I’m always looking for new recipes for this rhubarb tea liqueur,” Mouth CEO Craig Kanarick says. “It’s also not your classic fruit punch. When I think fruit punch I think Kool-Aid, or a red fruit punch, something where you don't know what you're drinking. What’s great about this is the flavor of the rhubarb comes in clean.”
From behind the bar...
Name: Craig Kanarick
If this drink had a soundtrack what would it be? "Birth in Reverse" by St. Vincent
Your summer getaway: Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont
Best place to get day drunk: Grand Isle, Lake Champlain, Vermont
Signs of being overserved: Nonstop eating of the pickles; Eating the rinds of the cheese; Hugging the dog; Taking a selfie
What’s the secret to making great punch? The real trick to punch is to make sure it’s cold when you first start out, so when you put the ice in it, it doesn’t melt immediately. If you’re serving punch outside, and it’s really hot, make sure you fill the punch bowl in portions so it doesn’t water down; just put out enough and make sure you’re attending it over and over again. Or start it really strong and let it water down.
Tell me about the punch—why is it a great party drink? Well, these are great, American-made indie spirits that maybe your friends aren’t going to know about, and there’s a story behind these spirits. So this punch has an, I’m going to say it, ice breaker built in. They’ll say, “Tell me about the punch!” and you can say, “Well, let me tell you rhubarb. Did you know that rhubarb leaves are poisonous but the stems are not? And Benjamin Franklin originally brought rhubarb to Philadelphia as a gift to a friend who was a botanist?”
What’s your favorite hangover cure?
My biggest hangover cure is kids. They force you to wake up really quickly and get over it. But some of my friends swear by Switchel; it&rs