Casita Bar's Will Foster made an impromptu visit to New York City last week and we visited far too many of the key cocktail places in New York to properly recount (or recall) every detail here, but it was a pretty heroic push. From our first stop at the tequila and mezcal-focused Mayuhuel (which scratched South American spirits-enamored Foster behind the ears for about four happy rounds), to our final stop at our default end-up joint Louis 649 (where you can sip spot-on cocktails without any pomp or fussiness until quite, quite late) the entire expedition was simply epic. Day 5 brought a planned food and drinks gathering with Stuart Krimko, our Wine and Food Editor and host of the Verdita party of yore. Exhaustion after marathon drinking all around, but the punch that we came up with on the spot revived us just in time for the arrival of our guests. I'd printed several recipes from a punch story I was working on in preparation for shopping that morning, but had neglected to designate page numbers for the document and so was immediately confused about what ingredients went with which recipe, Subsequently the Shanghai 24 is something of an amalgam of various bartender's punches, with the added variable of whatever looked good at the greengrocers' that morning. Perfect. J.R.
SHANGHAI 24 PUNCH
1 litre Beefeater 24
1 quart of unsweetened green tea (bottled, in our case)
1 small bottle club
soda,
3 or 4 apricots,
8 raspberries
6 lychees (peeled and sliced in two)
2 large grapefruits, juice of
2 lemons (no
lime! and contrary to what the photo might indicated, no Gary Regan's Orange Bitters--we tried it in a small serving and it nudged it in a spicy direction, and this one is all fresh summer sweetness)
1 generous oz. Luxardo Marischino Liqueur
Muddle all the fruit first, leaving aside a few bits for garnish. Mix everything together in a large bowl with ample ice. Give it a few minutes to chill and water down--then enjoy to your heart's content. This one isn't too strong, but rather incredibly refeshing with just enough booze to keep it interesting, which is just what you want from your summer punch.
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