The word Punch comes from a hindu word meaning, "five" and traditionally has 5 ingredients. Using the five taste buds for inspiration, I used the following ratios.
2 parts Midnight Moonshine Strawberry
(sweet, but not artificially so)
2 parts Q Tonic (champagne could work well also, it's the bubbles I was after more than anything)
1/2 part Cynar (a bitter Amaro partly flavored by artichokes)
1/4 part Juice of fresh lemons (the sour plays well against the natural sweetness that the strawberries impart on the moonshine)
A generous amount of muddled Basil (an earthy component to balance the berry, tart, and bitter notes).
I also threw in blueberries mostly because I had them and I wanted to float some in each person's cup.
The result was delicious by all accounts. I had one guest tell me that it was the best punch he ever had. I even encouraged people to eat the strawberries that had been soaked in the moonshine, akin to eating the worm from a bottle of Mezcal. They did not disappoint. Some even wanted me to just serve them another strawberry!
Thanks again to Piedmont Distillers, Inc for graciously supplying the very mixable Strawberry Midnight Moonshine. I was honored to use such a tasty product for this summertime punch.
