Party prep: Drinks for a crowd

Depending on your first or last sip, punch may have left a bad taste in your mouth. Perhaps it was the big-bowl slop served at a family gathering or that indiscriminate booze and fruit medley you ladled out of an aquarium in college.

But don't let Aunt Ruth's "secret" recipe (spoiler alert: It's Ocean Spray) or frat-boy fuel ruin your feelings toward punch. Things can be much — much — better.

"We all have those memories," said Peder Schweigert, head bartender at Marvel Bar. "Whatever you had in college, this is not that."

Punch has been around for centuries and was the original spirits-based mixed drink before losing favor to cocktails as we know them. However, the festive potation has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years. As they've done with Negronis and Old-Fashioneds before them, bartenders have refurbished the punch recipes served on British navy ships and at Andrew Jackson's inauguration party that were popular from the 1600s to the mid-1800s.

"This style of punch definitely has the historical flair to it that's more fun," Schwei­gert said.

Without getting too History Channel about it, the punch revival can make hosting that holiday party easier and, more important, tastier. Offering guests beverages superior to Kool-Aid-esque troughs or help-yourself smorgasbords of spirits and mixers need not doom the host or hostess to an evening of shaking and stirring.

"I like to throw parties. I like to make drinks," said Kara Newman, author of "Cocktails for a Crowd."

While breezy punches often have a tropical connotation, tailoring the communal and convenient elixirs for the season is simple. Many island-style spices and ingredients — from falernum to nutmeg — play equally well in drinks enjoyed on tropical beaches or in front of a crackling yule log.

"Even Angostura [bitters], classic Ango, has so much wonderful clove it's almost Christmassy," Newman said. "I think of allspice dram or nutty flavors like orgeat — all of those are really wonderful when the weather's colder."

For sweater weather punches, the Wine Enthusiast spirits editor prefers the brown stuff — brandy, whiskey and dark rum. Given its Caribbean connection, rum is particularly common in punch bowls.

Many bartenders have an affinity for blending rums — especially funky, navy-strength labels such as Smith and Cross and Wray and Nephew, which Schweigert says are "indispensable" for historical punches — and punch is the perfect canvas.

"You could add five different rums at five different proofs in varying quantities and get very different punches," said Schweigert, who helms Marvel's punch program. "But all of them would be good as long as the citrus balance is there. You don't need other big flavors because rum is interesting enough."

One potential punch-making pitfall is controlling or losing control of its dilution rate. No one likes a lukewarm drink or a watery one. Dumping an ice tray into a serving bowl could render a punch, well, punchless as the ice melts over the course of several hours. Instead Newman, a bona fide watered-down-drink-hater, suggests using one large block of ice, which won't melt as quickly. Freezing water in appropriately sized Tupperware or a smaller bowl should do the trick.

Conversely, not adding enough water, club soda or even a sparkling wine to dial down the proof (especially when working with high-octane rums) can yield walloping one-and-done concoctions reminiscent of those college parties you barely remember.

Aunt Ruth wouldn't approve.