kentucky derby bourbon punch

touchdown in springtime-kentucky and you are served a meter of pure poetic lore.

it's blossoms of dogwood and red bud trees.

it's mares and their colts behind wooden fences.

and horse races where ladies wear hats.

a bluegrass spring guarantees a genteel invitation to a garden party on a veranda where guests eat benedictine sandwiches, and drink kentucky's champagne from bourbon country.

last sunday, jim and i helped with just such a party . . . a shower for dear friends. the invitation said it would be from two o'clock until four . . . it lasted until five . . . that happens a lot in ky in the spring.

my part was to fill the punch bowl. so i consulted my resident mix-master-husband who sent me to the pages of our mr. boston official bartender's and party guide for ideas. i fanned through the first section of recipes which is all about bourbon, and a call-to-post-jingle went off in my head: afternoon garden party, kentucky in springtime, bourbon it should be.

          again i sought advise from jim who is a devotee of bourbon (he can likely name a brand and its proof in a blind taste test). as creative director for the same mr. boston guide i held in my hands, the project came to jim from chris morris who is now the master distiller and resident historian for brown-forman. chris taught jim about bourbon's mix of grain mash, about charred oak barrels, clocking in the warehouse, and about the angels' share that evaporates during the aging process. i have listened to the two of them talk for hours about bourbon, scotch, and the different kinds of whiskey . . . with and without an "e".

this recipe is based on the mr. boston guide's  "kentucky punch". we cut way back on the sweet ingredients and poured in club soda with a few jiggers of maraschino cherry juice instead. we call it kentucky derby bourbon punch and you can sip one in the morning before going to the track / or drink it in the afternoon to apply balm to the burn of a ticket that didn't cash / or make a toast in the evening to the setting sun from a terrace of mossy bricks.

ingredients (32 servings . . . might want to make a double batch on a hot afternoon)

• one 12oz. can of frozen orange juice concentrate , thawed and undiluted
• one 12oz. can of frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted
• one liter of bourbon
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup of lemon juice
• 1/4 cup of maraschino cherry juice
• 2 liters of club soda
• lemon slices and maraschino cherries, halved

directions

1. in a large pitcher, mix the orange juice and lemonade concentrates with the bourbon, lemon juice, and the cherry juice . . . this is your base.
2. if mixing in individual glasses: 
fill a high ball glass with cubed ice, fill 3/4 of the way with the base. top it off with club soda. add a cocktail straw and stir. garnish with a lemon wedge and a maraschino cherry half.
3. if mixing in a punch bowl:

pour the entire contents of the base into a punch bowl, add 1 and 1/2 liters of the club soda and the lemon slices and marashino cherry halves. taste and add club soda if needed . . . or bourbon.