Retro Recipes: Sparkling Gin Punch

This retro and sparkle-y pink punch is a great beverage to serve at a cocktail party or outdoor bash. This was a hit at my recent 1960s cocktail party, and is definitely going to become one of my party staples. The recipe can also be cut to smaller amounts and served in a pitcher if you're just having a few friends over (this would be particularly fun for a Girl's Night, although the guys at the party really did love it too!).

You'll notice that in the recipe I call for a large ice block in place of regular cubes. A large ice block is preferable to using ice cubes when chilling a punch since they dissolve much slower and will keep your punch from getting watered down. Don't worry about trying to find this at the grocery store; you can easily make an ice block at home by filling a medium-sized Tupperware container or decorative mold with filtered or bottled water and freezing. To release, run the bottom quickly under hot water for about 20 seconds. I sometimes like to pretty it up a bit by adding a handful of maraschino cherries, raspberries, or edible flowers to the ice block for decoration.

I'm going to (slowly, but surely) continue to post all the recipes from my retro/Mad Men cocktail party on the site, but if you would like any specific ones, feel free to email me to and give me a little nudge (my contact info is below).


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Sparkling Gin Punch
adapted from Gourmet Magazine, 1967

Ingredients
20 oranges, juiced
12 lemons, juiced
2 quarts gin
4 jiggers grenadine
6 dashes orange bitters
2 quarts chilled soda water
ice block for chilling

Directions
Combine the orange juice, lemon juice, gin, grenadine, and orange bitters in a large punch bowl. Add a large ice block to chill (see note below). Just before you are ready to serve, add a large ice block to chill and pour in 2 quarts of chilled soda water.