Why fight the heat. Throw a tropical party and serve this punch. Three cups of this and you will start to hear the Mr Frosty jingle ringing in your ears.

Rosemary Citrus Punch Recipe
(add ingredients to punch bowl in order listed and stir)

• 5 lb Bag of Ice
• 1 (1.5L)  Bottle Vodka
• 8 Limes – Squeezed
• 3 Limes – Sliced thin
• 1/2 Gallon Lemonade (I recommend a good quality brand like Newman’s)
• 1.2 Gallon Pink Grapefruit Juice (fresh, not from concentrate)
• 2 Bottles Seltzer
• Rosemary Simple Syrup to taste (approx. 2 cups)

Rosemary Simple Syrup:

• 2 Cups White Sugar
• 4 Cups Water
• 2 Bunches Rosemary
• Boil on the stove about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Let sit and steep in the pot for 1 hour
• Strain out the Rosemary with a fine mesh strainer

Pomegranate Gimlet Recipe
(add ingredients to punch bowl in order listed and stir)

• 5 lb Bag of Ice
• 1 (1.5L) Bottle Vodka or Gin
• 12 Limes – Squeezed
• 4 Limes – Sliced thin
• 1 (12 oz) Can Frozen Limeade
• 24 oz Pomegranate Juice (Pom brand)
• 1 Pomegranate – seeds only
• 2 (2L) Bottles Plain Seltzer

Note: There is pretty much no time that it is ok to use flavored seltzer in any punch recipe. That stuff is filled with chemically fake taste and has no place in any drink you are concocting. Stick to plain, unflavored Seltzer or Club Soda please.

Vodka Berry Punch Recipe
(add ingredients to punch bowl in order listed and stir)

• Pint Blackberries or Raspberries 
  mash with ladle in bottom of punch bowl
• 5lb Bag of Ice
• 1 (12 oz) Can Frozen Limeade
• 1 (1.5L) Bottle Vodka
• 1 Cup Cassis
• 1 (64oz) bottle Cran-Raspberry Juice
• 8 Limes – Squeezed
• 4 Limes – Sliced Thin
• 1 Bunch Mint - ripped into pieces
• 1 (2L) Bottle Seltzer

The Studio Guild is a cooperative office space that my husband, Tate, runs in Midtown Manhattan. The idea behind the Studio Guild is to offer affordable, “by the desk” office space to freelancers, artists, architects, writers, and small non-profits. Tate has worked hard to create a community where people can collaborate, network, and simply have fun. And this is where punch comes in.

Twice a year, we throw a huge party at the Studio Guild. There is the annual Holiday Hangover party in January (because who needs another holiday party in December?), as well as a Summer blowout. Over the years, these parties have become legendary. We throw the party in the actual office space, and what used to take place on half of the 10th floor, now takes up the entire 10th and 11th floors and includes a DJ and dance floor on 11.

With over 300 people coming to each party, there is really no other way to affordably serve drinks all night long. Punch allows me to prep many of the recipes in advance. I also can get 3 or 4 batches flowing at the same time. As the night wears on, I generally move from the more complex recipes into the quick and easy ones. There is a general flow to the evening that everyone has come to expect. While I have been making punches for over ten years now, many of my punch recipes were perfected over the past six years of Studio Guild shindigs. You have to get good at making these recipes on the fly in order to keep a large and raucous crowd happy!

In my opinion, unless your party host is a professional mixologist who is going to blend and shake drink perfection for his or her party guests all night, an open bar at a party is a terrible idea. I ask you this: How many times have you been to a party where sometime around 10 pm it is clear that there are endless varieties of gin, vodka and rum in plentiful supply; but nary a mixer to be found? The reason for this is simple - the quantity of mixers needed to keep a party going all night is big, especially when you have amateurs mixing their own drinks.

Let’s face it…most people do not know how to make a drink. Left to their own devices, your guests will fill an oversized cup with ice, throw in some alcohol, and then start randomly adding whatever juices and sodas are on hand. Pineapple juice to start. Throw in a splash of cranberry. A squeeze of lime. Top it off with some Sprite, maybe? In the end, everything tastes like that bad Mai-Tai you had in Cancun on spring break during college.

You can supply the party with every gourmet drink ingredient in the world, but most people have no idea what to do with them. Thus…the beauty of punch! You can create one carefully selected specialty drink for the evening, make it to perfection ONE TIME, and then you, the host, are done! I can tell you from personal experience – if you have a batch of delicious looking punch sitting there, no one will be drinking wine or beer.