Drink of the Week: Misa de Gallo Punch

Tomorrow is Christmas, and no doubt many of you will be hosting celebrations with family and friends all in the mood for festive food and drink. Nothing spreads holiday cheer like a seasonal punch, and the beauty of punches is that they can be easy to make and serve a lot of people at once. This one comes from the talented Eryn Reece of Louis 649 in New York City, who found inspiration for the recipe in the homeland of sherry. “I named it Misa de Gallo Punch because in Spain they have a holiday tradition where midnight mass, or ‘rooster’s mass,’ became a long and elaborate celebration that stretched until dawn, and they claim that the rooster was the first to witness the birth of Jesus.”

This recipe serves 40 people, but you can increase or decrease the proportions to fit whatever size crowd you’re hosting.

Misa de Gallo Punch
10 cups bourbon
3 3/4 cups Pedro Ximenez sherry
3 3/4 cups fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups simple syrup (1:1 ratio)
5 oz. St. Elizabeth allspice dram
1 1/4 oz. Angostura bitters
10 cups soda water

The day before you’re ready to serve the punch, fill a couple of cake or bread tins or Tupperware containers with water and freeze. When you’re ready to make the punch, grab your ice molds, break off large chunks of ice and add those to your punch bowl. Add the bourbon, sherry, lemon juice, simple syrup, bitters and allspice dram. Stir to get the ingredients cold, and then right before you serve the punch, add the soda water to make it bright and festive.

Cheers and happy holidays from everyone at Imbibe!