Batched: A Beginners Guide To Large Scale Cocktails

A moment that has arisen in many of our lives: You are having a large (or un-large) grouping of other humans (or non-humans) to your residence for some semblance of celebration. You rack your brain for hours, nay, days on how to correctly quench all of their individuals thirsts. You ponder…

“Fruit punch and Vodka? No. Too simple, too sweet…"

"Perhaps a keg of light beer? That’s essentially overpriced water…"

"A dog bowl full of Whiskey? Better but not quite it.”

Alas, my dear drinkers. Have no fear. I am here to play the role of your resident Fairy Grog Parent (That was the best pun I could come up with given the synonyms to alcohol).

The Foundational Beginnings of Punch.

Batching cocktails in large enough quantities to comfortably intoxicate everyone in attendance is something that has been done for centuries.

While I am no expert on this matter, David Wondrich is. He, very literally, wrote the book on it (Punch, for those interested in reading more).

Nonetheless, the idea of a batched cocktail in some form has been around since well before the 1600s. The coined term “Punch” came in the early 1600s but people across the globe, most notably in India, were batching these drinks for years prior.

In the early years, these “batched cocktails” (At that time referred to as Punch) were very (very) unrefined cocktails with very (very) unrefined ingredients and even more unrefined liquor. People would create these punches for means of celebrations and, in the case of the Royal Navy, health purposes. Nowadays, we create them to forget that we live in a nearly post-apocalyptic hell-scape. We have a far better reason to drink.

A Batch Broken Down.

Punches fell out of fashion until, arguably, recently. With the modern cocktail resurgence and with bartending (And mixology… a term which I despise) becoming more and more refined, we see even some of the best bars in the world batching cocktails.

How is a batch achieved? Well, it depends on the drink but everything is fundamentally the same as using a single portion recipe. If you take any cocktail recipe and exchange your ounces for cups, grab a large bowl, and mix your ingredients… Congrats! You’ve batched a cocktail.

“But that seems far too simple.”

It is. You may have to math a time or two but batching a cocktail really is that simple, although we will not be stopping there. Complexity of cocktail does not always equate to a complexity of creation. There are countless other ways to get to the same end result, but the major idea is that you are taking that single cocktail serving and making it in a larger quantity.

Note #1: A good rule of thumb is to not add the bitters (If called for) into the batch. Add those into each individual drink when ready to serve to give the correct flavor enhancement.

Note #2: It’s a secondary good rule of thumb to partially dilute your batched cocktails. That way, once poured over ice, people can immediately start drinking their cocktails without the venomous bite of the alcohol we all love so dearly. Generally, a three-ounce cocktail will be diluted with anywhere from half-an-ounce to one-ounce of water after it’s been shaken or stirred (A future post, undoubtedly). I typically use, what would be equivalent to, a half-ounce of water per drink in my batches. Once again, just call this half-once a half-cup and batch accordingly! This is only for those cocktails that you will not later top with hot water, soda water, Prosecco, and other various “toppings.”

Before I give you some of my favorite batched cocktail recipes to introduce to your family Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Bat Mitzvah’s, I think I should preface it with this: These are all suggestions. You know your palate far better than I (As I don’t even truly know who you are. I am currently just a disembodied voice that only resides in your head). If you like certain flavors better than others, swap them out. If you like certain liquors more than others, make a change. Create something that you, your friends, and your family will truly revel in. Something that people will plead for you to bring to the next gathering. Be the family bartender that no one knew they required.

Now, We Drink.

This is just an introductory lesson. Perhaps in the future, we will delve into the myriad intricacies that come with this subject.

Lastly, rather than giving you four indistinct recipes that are arbitrary and meaningless (And still are, but now I’m distilling meaning onto them), I am going to give you four slightly more distinct recipes based upon the season in which they would be most suitable.

With that…

Winter

For One Serving:

- 1.5 oz Appleton Estate

- 1 oz Tea, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Syrup*

- 0.5 oz Cranberry Juice

- 2 oz Hot Water

- Garnish with Cinnamon Stick & Fresh Cranberries

For Roughly 16 Servings:

- One 750mL bottle of Appleton Estate

- 2 cups of Tea, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Syrup*

- 1 cup of Cranberry Juice

- Top with 2 oz of Hot Water

- Garnish with Cinnamon Stick & Fresh Cranberries

To make a batch of this cocktail: In a large bowl, combine the Rum, Syrup, and Cranberry Juice. When you are ready to serve, add 3 ounces of the mixture into a heat proof glass and top with 2 ounces of near boiling water. Garnish with a Cinnamon Stick and Fresh Cranberries! You can theoretically use most rums in place of the Appleton Estate, but, please, do not use Captain Morgan or an equivalent. You will thank me later.

*For the syrup: In a pot, combine 1.5 cups of brown sugar, 1.5 cups of water, 5 bags of your favorite earthy tea (I would suggest a Lapsang Souchong, which is a smoked black tea, or just an English Breakfast or Black Tea), and 5 cinnamon sticks. Stir regularly while bringing it to a simmer and then let it steep for 15-30 minutes. Remove the solid contents!

Spring

For One Serving:

- 1.5 oz of Blueberry Lavender Infused Gin*

- 1 oz of Honey Syrup*

- 0.5 oz of Lemon Juice

- 3 oz of Sparkling Water

- Garnish with Fresh Blueberries & stem of Lavender

For Roughly 16 Servings:

- One 750mL bottle of Blueberry Lavender Infused Gin*

- 2 cups of Honey Syrup**

- 1 cup of Lemon Juice

- 3 oz of Sparkling Water

- Garnish with Fresh Blueberries & stem of Lavender

To make a batch of this cocktail: In a large bowl, combine the Gin, Honey Syrup, and Lemon Juice. When you are ready to serve, add 3 ounces of the mixture into a glass and top with 3 ounces of sparkling water. Garnish with Fresh Blueberries and a stem of Lavender!

*For the gin: Grab a bottle of your favorite gin and empty it into a bowl. To the bowl, add a package of fresh blueberries and muddle. Cover the mixture and allow to sit in the refrigerator for 3 days. After 3 days, add 2 tablespoons of food grade lavender (This can be bought on Amazon). Allow the mixture to sit for another 2 days in the refrigerator. After the final 2 days, strain the contents of the bowl through cheese cloth and store in a bottle until ready to use!

*For the honey syrup: Combine 1 cup of honey with one cup of near boiling water and mix until homogenous.

Summer

For one serving:

- 1.5 oz Preferred Blanco Tequila

- 0.75 oz Lime Juice

- 0.75 oz of Aperol

- 0.5 oz Agave Syrup*

- 0.5 oz Orange Juice

- Garnish with an Orange Slice

For roughly 16 drinks:

- One 750 mL bottle of Preferred Blanco Tequila

- 1.5 cups of Lime Juice

- 1.5 cups of Aperol

- 1 cup of Agave Syrup*

- 1 cup of Orange Juice

- 1 cup of Water

- Garnish with an Orange Slice

To make a batch of this cocktail: In a large bowl, combine the Tequila, Lime Juice, Aperol, Agave Syrup, Orange Juice, and Water. Pour 4 oz into a glass over ice and garnish with a fresh slice of an orange! For a wonderfully smokey addition, float a barspoon of Mezcal on the top of the drink.

*For the agave syrup: Either go on Amazon and buy cocktail ready agave syrup or mix together equal parts (0.5 cup) of pure agave and near boiling water.

Fall

For one serving:

- 1.5 oz of Preferred Whiskey

- 1.5 oz of Apple Cider

- 1 oz of Ginger & Cinnamon Shrub*

- 4 dashes of Angostura Bitters

- Garnish with a Cinnamon Stick & Apple Slice (Fresh or dried)

For roughly 16 servings:

- One 750mL Bottle of Preferred Whiskey

- 3 cups of Apple Cider

- 2 cups of Ginger & Cinnamon Shrub*

- 1 cup of Water

- 4 Dashes of Angostura Bitters

- Garnish with a Cinnamon Stick & Apple Slice (Fresh or dried)

To make a batch of this cocktail: In a large bowl, combine the Whiskey, Apple Cider, Ginger & Cinnamon Shrub, and Water. Pour 4 oz of the mixture into a glass over ice, add 4 dashes of Angostura Bitters, and garnish with a cinnamon stick & apple slice (Fresh or dried)!

*To make the Ginger & Cinnamon Shrub: Combine equal parts (1 cup) of apple cider vinegar and brown sugar into a pot. To this, add a large peeled and finely diced root of ginger and 5 sticks of cinnamon. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Take the mixture off of the heat and allow it to steep for 30 minutes to an hour before straining through a fine mesh strainer.

Cheers.

- Noah J Welter