Fizzy Strawberry Pisco Punch Recipe

This punch, from Zac Overman of Sitka & Spruce in Seattle, is mouthwateringly tart and slightly fizzy, juicy and a little herbal, thanks to fresh strawberries, thyme, and Bonal, a flavorful French aperitif that's bittered with cinchona and gentian. It's easy to batch up the punch mix in advance, then combine it with Cava, Crémant, or another dry sparkling wine in each serving glass.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
Small lidded pitcher or quart-size Mason jar, fine-mesh strainer, Collins glasses for serving
INGREDIENTS
For the Strawberry-Thyme Syrup:
1 cup (240ml) water
1 cup (195g) sugar
1/2 cup quartered strawberries (about 5 to 6 small berries; 65g)
7 sprigs fresh thyme
For the Punch Mix:
4 ounces (120ml) Strawberry-Thyme Syrup
6 ounces (180ml) pisco (such as Barsol)
6 ounces (180ml) Bonal
6 ounces (180ml) fresh juice from 4 lemons
To Serve:
1 (750ml) bottle dry sparkling wine, chilled
DIRECTIONS
1.
For the Strawberry-Thyme Syrup: Add water, sugar, strawberries, and thyme to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer to remove solids. Let cool before using. Syrup can be refrigerated up to 1 week.

2.
For the Punch Mix: Combine Strawberry-Thyme Syrup, pisco, Bonal, and lemon in a small lidded pitcher or quart-size Mason jar. (You will have 22 ounces of the punch mix.) Stir to combine. At this point, mix can be used immediately or covered and refrigerated up to 10 hours. Extra Strawberry-Thyme Syrup can be served with seltzer for a nonalcoholic drink.

3.
To Serve: Fill each Collins glass with ice. Add 3 ounces sparkling wine and 2 3/4 ounces punch mix to each glass and stir gently. Serve immediately.

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Mela d'Alba (Apple Brandy Negroni) Recipe

This apple brandy–based variation on the classic Negroni cocktail is spicy, rich, and bittersweet. It's as simple as could be to make, but the magic is in the proportions: It's not the standard equal-parts setup.

Instead, you'll use two parts warming 100-proof apple brandy, along with one part Campari and one part sweet vermouth (I like Carpano Antica here), so that the brandy can cut the Campari's considerable sweetness. The recipe, created by Andrew Friedman of Liberty Bar in Seattle, originally appeared in Gary Regan's The Negroni: Drinking to La Dolce Vita, With Recipes & Lore. If you like Boulevardiers, this cocktail is a cold-weather essential.

To make a big batch of it, multiply each ingredient by the number of drinks you'd like to make, and add about 25% of the total volume in water. (Use filtered if you don't love the flavor of your tap water.) For example, to make eight portions of the Mela d'Alba, add 16 ounces Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy, 8 ounces sweet vermouth, 8 ounces Campari, and 8 ounces water to a resealable jar or bottle. (You'll need a container that holds at least 40 ounces.) Refrigerate until ready to serve, then pour into individual ice-filled rocks glasses.

NOTE
Don't use Applejack here; you want the strong stuff, marked "bonded."
INGREDIENTSES:
2 ounces (60ml) Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy (see note above)
1 ounce (30ml) sweet vermouth
1 ounce (30ml) Campari
Lemon twist, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
1.
Add apple brandy, sweet vermouth, and Campari to an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass. Stir until well chilled, about 15 seconds. Express lemon oils over drink and add lemon twist. Serve immediately.

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