For the last time in 2023, hello, Friends of Cocktails! Today we’ll look back on a great year with some of the Cocktail Time Highlights, and we’ll also fix something that you guys said I messed up, but more on that once we reach the Bottom of The Glass. More importantly though, we’ll say thank you to all of you who helped make this a special year. This is the final episode we’re filming before our Christmas break, so we’ll celebrate the best way you can when hosting friends: with a punch bowl.
Punch really is a great way to make a cocktail for a large crowd. They’ve known that since the 17th century, from the ships in the East Indies, to the coffee houses in London. I made an Arrack Punch a while ago, so if you’d like to know more about what is considered the origin of all cocktails check out that post. Now, getting back on track, this Cocktail Time Punch will be made with ingredients, or at least brands, you’ve already seen on the channel.
It’ll be bubbly, refreshing, easy to serve, and what’s most fun, it’ll be color changing! It will be a great way to toast to an exciting year ahead as well, but now let’s see what inspired today’s ingredients: In 2023 the Cocktail Time Crew took the show on the road as we headed to Treviso, Italy. There we shot two great episodes with FIOL Prosecco, one of them being a Bellini twist with Rooibos, Strawberry and FIOL Prosecco Rose, which will be the main ingredient of the day.
While we’re on the subject of travel, it was an amazing year of meeting Friends of Cocktails from all around the world, from bar conventions, guest shifts and masterclasses in Germany, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and even Kazakhstan - I’ve been welcomed with open arms that truly showed me why this industry is called the hospitality business. We’re filming this in a small basement studio in Slovenia and sometimes it’s hard to grasp the global reach of Cocktail Time.
I look forward to expanding my horizons even further and meeting more Friends of Cocktails in 2024, but let’s move onto our next ingredient, Elderflower Liqueur which will add a nice floral addition and a little more strength. We made quite a few DIY liqueurs this year, and I love seeing you all get excited about homemade ingredients. This homemade and cheaper version of St. Germain was among the most popular ones, alongside DIY Malibu and Midori.
For sweetness you’ve heard me mention Liber&Co.’s syrups plenty of times throughout the year. Their range of syrups allows you to create a wide variety of cocktails, but what’s more important is that they taste great, which comes from quality ingredients. To add more than just sweetness to our punch, we’re using their Grapefruit Shrub, made with Rio Red Texas grapefruit, cane sugar and champagne vinegar. This will provide a punchy and unique acidity to go with the sweetness.
And since the most popular episode of 2023 was the Color Changing Cocktails it’s only fitting that we make our punch change colors before we serve it. We’ll achieve this with butterfly pea flowers, which we’ll use to make tea, and the acidity from the shrub and prosecco. Of course, we couldn’t make a cocktail without the MVP of Cocktail Time… Saline Solution. Lemon wheels, persian pink rose buds and mint leaves will be used as a garnish, an important part of the punch.
You’ll be able to find this recipe in the Vector Bar App, together with hundreds of classic and signature cocktails, including a few Cocktail Time recipes from this year. So thank you to FIOL, Liber&Co. and Vector Bar for believing in what we do and supporting us on the way. And thanks to Techland for the opportunity to create a cocktail and an episode to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Dying Light 2: Stay Human. A fun episode you should watch for sure.
But back to our Cocktail Time Punch, with a bit more gratitude. Thank you for watching Cocktail Time episodes and helping me find inspiration for the ingredients to use in today’s cocktail. Everyone that tunes in week after week to learn something new, or just to hopefully be entertained for a few minutes, you help the Cocktail Time family grow by extending the reach of our channel. And a special part of that family are of course our Patreon supporters, who actively contribute to the efforts we put into each episode. Past, present or future Patron, no matter the tier, thank you for supporting what we do.
Same goes for everyone who comes to an online coffee shop and buys me a cocktail - you guys rock. With that, let’s start building the drink. First up, we need to make the butterfly pea tea and turn it into a soda.
Butterfly Pea Tea Soda
● 1L · 33.3oz Water
● 2g Butterfly Pea flowers
To make the tea I’ll boil the water and steep the tea in it to give it a deep blue hue, which will change color when it comes in contact with something acidic. After 4 minutes of steeping, strain the tea through a coffee filter. Allow it to cool down, then we want to chill it to be as cold as possible since that helps with carbonation. I’ll then transfer it to my iSi Twist & Sparkle bottle and place it in the freezer. Once nicely chilled it’s time to carbonate it.
I’m adding a single CO2 cartridge, and since water and carbon dioxide react to form carbonic acid, this will already change the color of our tea from dark blue to dark purple. If you don’t have Twist & Sparkle you could also steep a more potent tea and top it up with soda water, but with that we have everything ready, including a nice big bowl and plenty of ice, so let’s make the Cocktail Time Punch.
Cocktail Time Punch
● 750mL · 25oz FIOL Rosé
● 225mL · 7.5oz Elderflower Liqueur
● 75mL · 2.5oz Liber & Co Grapefruit Shrub
● 300mL · 10oz Butterfly Pea Soda
● 3 dashes · 30 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Lemon Wheels
● Persian Rose Buds
● Mint Leaves
Make sure your bowl is as cold as possible as well, I had mine chilling in the freezer before we started. Then I’m pouring in a whole bottle of FIOL Prosecco Rose - try not to go too wild with it, as we want the bubbles to stay in the cocktail. Next add the Elderflower Liqueur, Grapefruit Shrub and saline solution. Mix all ingredients gently with a bar spoon then add plenty of ice. Do this slowly as well, and don’t just dump all the ice in there, again to keep the bubbles.
Now for the garnish, add the lemon wheels that you’ve cut thinly and place the rose buds on them. Finish with mint leaves on top of the ice, but just as your guests might think that’s it and would like to pour themselves a serving, we’ll add the color-changing twist. You can pour 1oz or 30ml of our Butterfly Pea Soda into each glass and top it up, or mix it in the bowl with everyone watching. I’ll do the second, stir it in and watch as the color changes subtly from orange & purple to pinkish.
With that it’s now ready to be served and enjoyed, and finally, before we say cheers, I’ll take this opportunity to thank my friends and colleagues, Sašo and Robi. Even though you don’t get to see them on camera all that often, you’re seeing their work as much as mine, every time you watch Cocktail Time. I’m thankful for you guys and proud of what we’ve done so far, but for now let’s drink. Cheers!
Flowers and dry wine on the aroma, with roses and FIOL Rose enhancing that on the palate as well. A full-bodied punch that will remind you of a spritz cocktail, with grapefruit shrub adding a subtly bitter, citrusy taste that lingers on the aftertaste. A wonderful punch for any occasion. With that we’ve reached the Bottom of The Glass, but today one of us will also reach the bottom of the glass in the name of science apparently.
In the popular Jagerbomb episode I sipped the classic college cocktail, which I’ll admit is not the typical way to drink it. So we decided we should revisit that episode, and our college days, so that one of us does it full justice. We’ll do rock, paper, scissors to decide who’s the… winner, so there’s a 33% chance that you’ll see me slam a Jagerbomb! If you want to see how it goes, as well as cheer with us the end of 2023, check out the full episode down below. See you soon, Friends of Cocktails. Cheers!