TotC contest: Veilleés Punch

Since it’s the day past now, I thought I’d share my official entry for the Tales of the Cocktail punch contest. The winning recipe will snag a few bucks, and will be the official drink of the 2008 event. I put together this dandy with much testing, some Old NOLA Rum borrowed from Lance, and some “things” I had sitting about. A few drinks into the development, I hit upon this dandy, and think it’s one nifty sipper, and packs a pretty pulverizing punch while pampering the palate.

The name, by the way, comes from the cajun term for a get together, conversation.. I think the description in Boudreaux’s Cajun Party Guide describes it better than I could.

Routinely, in the wintertime, Cajun families and neighbors get together for a Veilleés (vay-yay). Everyone passes a good time talking to each other, sharing stories, and singing songs over coffee and deserts.

This drink was made alongside a few good evenings of conversation, and after a few of these, you’ll definitely be vay-yaying all over the place.

Veilleés Punch

• 2 parts White Grapefruit Juice (Oroblanco)
• 2 parts Strong Black tea (cold)
• 1 part Pimento Liqueur (substitute allspice syrup if none available)
• 3 parts Old New Orleans Amber Rum
• 1 part Martell VSOP Cognac (float)

Single: Use 1/2 Ounce as the part. Shake all ingredients except cognac with ice, strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Float cognac.

Punch: Portion with 1/2 Ounce as the part, as many servings as you estimate guests will imbibe. Fill a punch bowl halfway with ice, pour all ingredients except cognac in a separate container and stir. Pour the mix over ice. Keep the cognac in a decanter on the side for guests or bartenders to float for each guest.

Allspice Syrup: (slow method) steep ground allspice berries in water for 3 days. Strain the water with a coffee filter and pour into a pot, add heat, and mix 1:1 with cane sugar to make a simple syrup.

Allspice Syrup: (fast method) Place whole allspice berries in a pot, cover with water and add heat. Once it hits a boil let it simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out the berries, and mix 1:1 with cane sugar to make a simple syrup.

What I tried to do here is capture the essence of the New Orleans Amber rum. It’s a good product by itself, and its characteristics lend towards a spicy concoction. It doesn’t have much in the way of bitterness, so I thought the Oroblanco would lend its subtle bitterness to the complexity of the drink. I may have committed a mortal sin in floating the cognac, but the flavor didn’t play well intertwined with the other ingredients. As a float, the entryway to the drink, it acts as a bit of a high-class buffer. It gives the drink a lot of character on the nose, which works very well with the flavor of the rest of the drink, and adds a nice finishing note as well.

The Pimento Dram is tops, giving a bit more heat and the allspice character to the drink. I used Chuck Taggart’s recipe, as featured in Imbibe magazine. The Allspice syrup is still fantastic, and actually makes for a slightly smoother, even eminently quaffable drink. The Dram is best for full complexity, slow method allspice better than fast, but I think that’s generally expected. Time is so often a great contribution to flavor.

Well, here’s to crossing my fingers that this sucker gets tried and tried right. Cheers to a fantastic event, no matter whom the winner of this contest may be.