Baby’s at the Punch Bowl

Each Thanksgiving I carefully and lovingly fill my turkey with chopped apples, butter, and rosemary, pour a bottle of white wine over it, then wrap it and put it on the grill. Over the next three or four hours I go through another three bottles of wine and sometimes a pint of whiskey basting the bird. (Yes, it all goes on the bird. Well, most of it goes on the bird.) The wine, apples, rosemary, and whiskey make for an amazing gravy.

So it seemed natural that if I infused Laird’s Applejack with rosemary, I might be able to create the essence of the grilled turkey experience. Nicky and I sampled the infusion and pondered. Then Nicky had a brilliant thought.

Gravy. Well, not really gravy. But closer to a milk punch.

We mixed the infused Applejack and half-and-half in a two to one ratio, then added apple cider and some sage simple syrup, and a dash of angostura bitters. After shaking well, we served it up in a double shot glass with a thin apple stick across the top of the glass. It was a great balance of flavors, with a slight touch of sage on the finish. Slightly sweet from the apple. . .herbal with the rosemary and sage . . .a nice creamy texture.

Baby’s at the Punch Bowl
1 part rosemary infused Laird’s Applejack
1/2 part half-and-half
1/2 part apple cider
1/3 part sage simple syrup
dash of angostora bitters

Note: Infusing anything with rosemary doesn’t take much time at all. Rosemary is such a strong herb that it will only take you a couple of hours for the infusion to complete.

The name of the drink comes from my favorite Punch Brothers song, “Baby’s at the Punch Bowl.” I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’.

Baby’s at the punch bowl
with a glass for you to fill
if you empty it with her
in the time she has to kill