Photo: Sharon McGauley
This passage from "The Landline", a poem from Stuart Krimko's collection "The Sweetness Of Herbert", seems to capture the mood of a reading held here in New York the other night. "Sweetness" is one of a trio of books from Sand Paper Press, a self-publishing unit conceived of and realized by Arlo Haskell, Shawn Vandor & Krimko, who also happens to be Embury's Wine & Food Editor (all his posts here.) The fellows held a reading last week at the Max Protech Gallery in Chelsea and I'd volunteered to do a punch in honor of the event. I reached out to the folks at Milagro Tequila who had helped out with the Verdita party that Stuart and threw some time back and they generously donated 6 bottles of Añejo for the party. That then put me in the position of coming up with some spectacular tequila punch w0rthy of the occasion. As it turned out the evening had a sort of charmed, instantly nostalgic glow around it, due in varying degrees to the diffuse light story at Max Protech, the gathering of friends on a cold winter's night to listen to the guys' laudable achievement of self-expression, the surprising frisson of a number of guests who seemed to come from nowhere and who knew no one central to the reading, and the sort of instantly dreamy-making effect of one kick-ass punch.
Up until the afternoon of the reading I was still playing with ideas when I recalled a recipe that Jonathan Borin from Highlands had shared with me that I thought could be adapted for a punch. His recipe started with Centennera Reposado, but I substituted the Milagro Añejo and added a touch of Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters, our obsession of the moment over here at Embury HQ.
RED BAND PUNCH (Respect to Jonathan Borin)
1/2 part Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 part grapfruit juice (Jonathan called for fresh grapefruit but given the quantity I went with deluxe store bought--Westside Market Pink Grapefruit juice--the pink pushed Jonathan's original recipe in a rowdier direction)
1/8 part lime juice
1/2 part agave nectar
2 giant ice cubes (I used Stonyfield Farms Lowfat Yogurt containers to make ice in; adding it to the mix only when I'd arrived. In truth an additional giant cube would have been good, and allowing the ice to melt for the duration of the the cab ride over probably would have been a good idea, given its potency.)
About 10 dashes of Fee Bros. Rhubarb Bitters.
I'd already departed from Jonathan's recipe by using Añejo but the light smokiness of Milagro and its very refined, very filtered quality worked quite nicely. Following the proportions fairly closely I
built the punch in my new great find, the Anchor Hocking Montana Jar. Conceived of a storage bottle, it also works as a
portable, splash-free 2.5 gallon punch bowl. With a lid. This is a genius solution
to the ongoing challenge of what to make punch in, to transport it if
necessary, and for serving--and it's only $20. The handsome Montana fulfills all
these needs, and walking into a party with a jar of pink, boozy punch
is a great way to make an entrance.
I'd intended to dub this the Sand Paper Punch, but after experiencing firsthand its power (I'd had to sample a fair amount as I mixed it up, and it added and extra, shall we say, glow to my evening) I decided to call it The Red Band Punch, in honor of it's reddish hue and the anything goes, unabashed nature of red band movie trailers (like this one for "Hot Tub Time Machine".) The Red Band will accelerate a party into high gear, and fast. It's deceptively citrus-y and delicious--and yet it's mostly tequila. Be warned, and enjoy.
Many thanks again to Milagro for hooking it up!
Photos: Sharon McGauley and Jason Rowan, collage by Greg Needham
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