Life Behind Bars

What’s the Ultimate Holiday Party Drink? Cognac Punch

This episode of award-winning podcast, Life Behind Bars, is all about the historic and delicious party punch.

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Noah Rothbaum/The Daily Beast

Forget the holiday season, it’s punch season!

Seriously. For centuries, people have been making big bowls of festive Cognac punch for groups of friends and family. Why? It’s not only delicious but much easier to make than other traditional seasonal drinks, like Eggnog, Hot Buttered Rum and Tom Jerry, and you can mix up a batch ahead of time.

And when it comes to punch, there is no one more knowledgeable than David Wondrich. In fact, he wrote the book on the historic beverage. On this episode of Life Behind Bars, Wondrich and his co-host Noah Rothbaum discuss the origins of this tasty holiday drink, share tips for making it and chat with guest Jordan Bushell, national brand ambassador for Hennessy Cognac, about the joys of the so-called flowing bowl.

GET THE RECIPE FOR DAVE WONDRICH’S HOLIDAY COGNAC PUNCH BELOW!

So before you host a party or attend one, listen to this podcast and then get out your punch bowl and ladle!

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London Punch House Punch

By David Wondrich

Ingredients:

  • 4 Lemons
  • 6 oz (3/4 cup) White sugar
  • 20 oz Hennessy Privilege VSOP Cognac
  • 6 oz Jamaican rum
  • 1 quart (4 cups) Cold water
  • Glass: Punch cup
  • Garnish: Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

  1. The day before you serve the punch, fill a quart container with water and put it in the freezer.
  2. Peel 4 lemons in long spirals and put the peels into a mason jar with 6 oz (3/4 cup) of white sugar. Seal the jar, shake it and let sit overnight.
  3. Two hours before you serve the punch, unseal the mason jar, add 6 oz (3/4) cup fresh-squeezed, strained lemon juice, reseal and shake until all the sugar has dissolved. Refrigerate.
  4. To assemble the punch, unmold the ice block and place it in a 1-gallon punch bowl. Shake the contents of the mason jar and pour it into the punch bowl unstrained, peels and all.
  5. Add 20 oz (2-and-a-half cups) Hennessy Privilege VSOP Cognac and 6 oz (3/4 cup) Jamaican rum. Stir.
  6. Add 1 quart (4 cups) cold water. Stir again and grate nutmeg on top.
  7. Using a punch ladle, drape a few ends of the spiral lemon peels over the rim of the bowl.
  8. Grate nutmeg over the top.

Life Behind Bars features Half Full’s editor Noah Rothbaum and its Senior Drinks Columnist David Wondrich as they discuss the greatest bartenders and greatest cocktails of all time. It just won the Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for the world's best drinks podcast. —Edited by Alex Skjong