Update (4/28): Mulebone has added unlimited punch for $12 to its brunch menu.
Original:
Imagine a scenario in which a small group of friends order punch at a bar and begin ladling out strong spirits from a giant bowl. The next day the congress of friends report to each other that they have no memory of how they got home. If this example approximates one of your recent experiences at a D.C. bar, then you’ve been “punched.”
Say hello to the return of the punch bowl.
Punch, as it was consumed 150 years ago, was nothing like the thin, soda-diluted stuff of family gatherings and high school reunions we associate it with today. Writing in his book Imbibe!, cocktail expert David Wondrich compares the strength of pre-industrial era punches to the modern “anemic concoctions…like gladiatorial combat to a sorority pillow fight.” But its potency was also the reason that old-school punch fell out of fashion during the 20th century as busy people found themselves with less time to stand around the punch bowl. In Wondrich’s words, “ladling libations out of a capacious bowl was as much as to confess you didn’t have anywhere to be for the next few hours.” We’re no less busy now in the nation’s capital, but that isn’t stopping D.C. bars from turning their attention to this forerunner of the modern-day cocktail.
The first stop on my punch odyssey is Hank’s Oyster Bar (1624 Q Street N.W.) where beverage manager Eve Maier serves up three throwback punches in three different sizes, from a single serving ($7) to a medium bowl for four to six drinkers ($50), as well as a party size bowl for eight to ten ($90). “Punches have a history of being communal, which is why we have many options,” she says. There’s the sangria: “usually made with a dry red wine, Old Overholt rye, and dry curacao,” says Maier, and a punch of the day. Right now they are doing Planter’s Punch, a powerful mix of dark rum, lime juice, honey ginger syrup, and Angostura bitters. One punch cup ladled from a hula girl-bedecked bowl was enough make me dizzy.
Hank’s also has a playful Church Lady Punch that Maier describes as “a take on the church function punch,” that’s usually non-alcoholic. For me it evokes Dana Carvey’s “Saturday Night Live” character of the same name and cloying sweetness, with rainbow sherbet, ginger ale, sparkling wine, and could it be… Satan? No, but vodka is a close second. Punch bowls are only available at Hank’s Dupont Circle location.
Mulebone (2121 14th Street N.W.) is making a splash with three innovative and strong bowls of punch. Their bourbon punch gets a lot of play because — well, bourbon — but the milk punch is probably beverage manager Evan Cablayan’s most innovative contribution. Clarified milk adds the color and flavor of cream without the thickness, while rum, brandy, charred pineapple, and spices like coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg make for a tropical treat. My recommendation, however, is Cablayan’s Bubble Punch, which has the exotic chocolate and citric flavor of Batavia Arrack — a rum made from distilled fermented sugar cane and red rice — blended with sparkling wine, pineapple pieces, lemon juice, and bitters. Just a warning: Mulebone’s punch bowls, priced at $45 each, are enormous and should be tackled by at least four drinkers.
Nearby at The Gibson (2009 14th Street N.W.), you can order up “The Knockout,” a bartender’s mix based on the spirit of your choice, for $42. For the same price, you can order a punch bowl-sized version of any cocktail on their menu from their patio bar.
The burgeoning punch scene continues on the 14th Street corridor with Compass Rose’s (1346 T Street N.W.) addition of 808s & Heartbreak punch. This Kanye West-themed punch, made with Clos Normand Brut Cider, rye, apple juice, ginger, and lemon, is served individually at $10 each.
Louisiana Planter’s Punch
This is my favorite of the Planter’s series with a little bourbon, cognac, and bitters for variety. It tastes way more interesting than it looks, so throw any fruit garnishes you have on top to make it attractive.
2 ounces gold rum
1 ounce bourbon
1 ounce cognac
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/4 teaspoon Pernod
5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Club soda
Combine liquid ingredients except soda in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass or beer mug and top with club soda.
