Image used with permission by copyright holderCelebrate Christmas with the Carlyle Punch! For those of you who don’t know, the Carlyle is an iconic Upper East Side hotel in New York. It became known as the New York White House during President John F. Kennedy’s administration and he was even rumored to have brought Marilyn Monroe there after she famously sung Happy Birthday to him. Mick Jagger even keeps a residence there. If you watched Bill Murray’s Netflix Christmas special, “A Very Murray Christmas,” it’s the beautiful hotel where the whole thing takes place. It’s one of the most glamorous spots in the entire city. So why not celebrate Christmas with a famous libation from one of New York’s most celebrated hotels?
Simply gather up Southern Comfort, raspberry vodka, cranberry juice, St. Germain, orange juice, bitters, and a few other things, and mix it all up in one giant punch bowl. Your holiday guests will be pleased, especially since they know they don’t have to travel all the way to New York to get a seat in Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle, to have a sip of this famed holiday cocktail. All you have to do is head to your local liquor store, pick up Southern Comfort, raspberry vodka and St. Germain, then get everything else, and you can picture yourself in New York to celebrate the holidays. See below for the full recipe:
Stone drops a behemoth of a beer to celebrate 28 years
Stone's birthday beer
One of craft beer's true stalwarts is celebrating in style. Stone Brewing, the Southern California brewery founded in 1996, is celebrating its 28th birthday with a special release. The new hazy double IPA is a palate-filling brew made with mosaic and nelson sauvin hops.
The brewery has long been known for its colossal beers, hopped generously and often cresting the 7% ABV mark. The new double IPA is no different, pouring a deep gold and offering an abundance of flavors, framed by juicy tropical fruit and some citrus and pine.
Have a whale of a time with Gray Whale Gin’s Punch by the Ocean
The punch is inspired by the gin's sustainably sourced botanicals
Grey Whale Gin is one of our favorite gin picks out of California that uses sustainable ingredients and helps support the conservation of the ocean through donations to the Oceana non-profit. It has botanticals including sea kelp and fir as well as the more expected juniper and lime, adding local ingredients like mint and almonds to round out its flavor profile.
Now, the brand has come up with a new punch recipe to celebrate its oceanic flavors, along with a fun whale-shaped pitcher that you can use to serve it in. The punch uses vermouth as well as the gin, adding plenty of fruit flavors plus ginger beer, with the flavors designed to compliment the botanicals of the gin. You can use this recipe to create a sparkling, easy to drink punch that would be perfect to sip while looking out over the ocean -- and for those of us who don't have ocean views to gaze upon, perhaps we can just imagine.
Punch by the Ocean
Serves 4
Find out which bars in your area are participating
As this week is Negroni Week, we've been talking all about tips to make your own negroni or variations at home from your home bar. But the event is also a great excuse to get out and check local bars in your area, with many cocktail-focused bars running special events for negroni week or offering their own spin on the classic.
If you're interested in finding a local bar to check out, then you can head to the Negroni Week website to find participating venues, plus other bonuses like recipes and information on the charitable causes being supported through the program.
