Julia turned three last week, which meant, of course, that it was party time. (Julia’s very enthusiastic about birthdays. On Tuesday, I heard singing from her room, “Happy birthday to my underwear, happy birthday to you!”)
For the last two years, we split the revelry in two — an high-spirited afternoon kids party (menu: cupcakes), and a slightly more down-to-earth adult cocktail affair the following day (menu: lobster salad, truffled white bean crostini, deviled eggs, cheddar/fig and gruyere/sage grilled cheese sandwiches, coconut cake, cupcakes).
The kids got apple juice boxes, but we served the adults this festive summer punch. Its backbone is the wonderfully floral Hendrick’s gin, but relatively large amounts of extra-strong Chamomile tea and pineapple juice make the punch more refreshing than boozy. Honey, lemon and Angostura bitters complete the flavor, and fresh cucumber, berries and mint make a pretty seasonal garnish. It’s perfect for a warm afternoon: you can quench your thirst with more than one glass and still complete a sentence.
The only tricks are remembering to freeze a block of ice in advance (cubes will melt too fast and water it down) and having enough camomile tea on hand to make the extra-strong tea (a quart/liter will require 20 tea bags). Other than that, it’s a delicious and low-maintenance crowd pleaser: mix it up, set it out and enjoy the fun.
Recipe
(adapted from Harbour Punch at www.HendricksGin.com)
Ingredients
4-5 parts gin, preferably Hendrick’s
4 parts pineapple juice
4 parts extra-strong chamomile tea*
1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 part honey syrup*
dashes of aromatic bitters, such as Angostura or Peychaud’s, to taste
1 block of ice (1 quart/liter of frozen water)
Cucumber slices, fresh berries and sprigs of mint to garnish.
*To make the tea, use 5 (yes 5) bags of chamomile tea per cup of hot water. Steep for 45 minutes and then chill.
** 2 parts honey, 1 part water
Instructions
1. The day before you make your punch, put a quart/liter container of water in the freezer to make your block of ice. (Don’t substitute ice cubes — they’ll melt to quickly and take the punch out of your punch.) Also, if you can, chill the pineapple juice and the gin.
2. Brew and chill the strong chamomile tea.
3. When you’re ready to serve, combine all of the ingredients in a punchbowl with the block of ice. Stir and adjust the flavor with dashes of bitters and (maybe) a little more gin.
4. Garnish with the cucumber slices and fruit. Smack the bunches of mint against your palm to release the fragrant oils and then drop them in.
Ladle into glasses, garnishing each with a berry or two and a cucumber slice.
