Seasonality has taken on new meaning for me behind the bar after living in New Orleans for many years. As bar programs advance and become more closely connected to the seasons and the food we love, we begin to see cocktails created in the same way chefs approach their signature dishes. Thoughtful touches with seasonal ingredients are added to be both local and sustainable. This is a great trend to adopt, to drink locally and taste the region. As the indelible phrase goes, “If it grows together, it goes together.” However, my approach to drinking “with the seasons” has shifted to something more akin to our social schedule in New Orleans rather than the harvesting schedule of Louisiana.
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Case in point: six days post New Year’s Eve. While the rest of the country is nursing a Champagne hangover and making resolutions about eating healthfully and trying their hand at “dry January,” our community is gearing up for the season of king cake and parties leading up to Mardi Gras. We embrace indulgence. In fact, we encourage it (within reason, of course).
With the Mardi Gras season just up ahead, whether you’re throwing a king cake party, attending an extravagant ball, or prepping for a long, beautiful Saturday filled with festive parades, I encourage you to reconsider the OG of cocktails: punch. I’m not talking about the hooch you made in college in a trash bag-lined garbage can. I’m talking old-school punch made with good-quality spirits and simple ingredients. If there is one book that had a huge impact on my appreciation of cocktails and their history, it was David Wondrich’s Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. As a self-proclaimed host and massive fan of a good dinner party, this book opened my eyes to creating big-batch cocktails. A beautiful, well-made bowl of punch needs to consist of merely five components, or as many as 50, although simpler is often better in my experience: strong (spirit, but this is negotiable if you want a nonalcoholic or a low ABV punch as well), weak (water, tea, even coffee, etc.), sour (typically lemon and/or lime juice), sweet (sugar, but keep in mind the sweetness level of other ingredients), and spice (nutmeg is great, but also think bitters or cinnamon or star anise, etc.). Put it all in a lovely glass bowl, add a block of ice containing citrus slices or some other seasonal ingredient frozen within, and grate a bit of nutmeg on top—now you have a ready-made cocktail for your guests or fellow parade-goers without having to play bartender all day or night. I love making punch for gatherings. They can be as loose and creative as whatever you have in the pantry and fridge. Lastly, remember to taste as you go. You can add, but you cannot take away. Punch creation is more art than science, so just as when you are making your grandmother’s soup, taste as you go and adjust as you see fit.
Seasonally, it can still be quite cold and wet if we have an early Mardi Gras, so I crave warming flavors and aged spirits during these months. The lift and assertiveness of a Highland Scotch is lovely as a base but can be softened with a bit of aged rum for those who don’t love the taste of the Highlands quite as much as I do. Amaretto (admittedly a guilty pleasure of mine) and apricot liqueur can easily take over, so use them in moderation and, again, taste as you go. I hope you enjoy!
