Edouardo Jordan’s Juneteenth Red Punch

Recipe from Edouardo Jordan

Adapted by Nicole Taylor

Published June 10, 2020

Edouardo Jordan’s Juneteenth Red Punch
Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
45 minutes, plus chilling
Rating
4(445)
Comments
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One of the chef Edouardo Jordan’s fond memories is making the punch for family celebrations; he’d add layers of fresh fruit and juices to Hawaiian Punch or Tropical Punch Kool-Aid. Red drinks are a staple at Juneteenth gatherings for African-Americans across the U.S. The color is a reminder of the red kola nuts and bissap (commonly known as hibiscus tea), which made their way to the Americas as part of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Cognac salutes black World War II soldiers’ love affair with the spirit and its continued popularity among African-American spirit drinkers, but any dark rum or whiskey is an excellent substitution. Find the best ripe strawberries for the simple syrup, and look for pineapple and pomegranate juices with no added sugar. —Nicole Taylor

Featured in: A Juneteenth of Joy and Resistance

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Ingredients

Yield:6 drinks

    For the Strawberry Syrup

    • 1½cups fresh strawberries (about 6 ounces), hulled and halved
    • 1cup granulated sugar
    • ½cup sliced (unpeeled) fresh ginger (about 2 ounces)

    For the Cocktail

    • 6ounces strawberry syrup, cooled
    • 4½ounces Cognac
    • 3ounces unsweetened pineapple juice
    • 3ounces unsweetened pomegranate juice
    • 2ounces lime juice
    • 3ounces ginger beer
    • Ice, for serving
    • 12ounces dry sparkling wine
    • Fresh strawberry or pineapple, dehydrated pineapple, or crystallized ginger, for garnish (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

337 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 0 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 63 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 57 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 13 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Prepare the syrup: In a medium saucepan, bring strawberries, sugar, ginger and ¾ cup water to a simmer over low heat and cook for 15 minutes until liquid reduces. (If it starts to boil, lower the heat as needed.) Remove from heat, cover with a lid and let it cool to room temperature.

  2. Step 2

    Strain cooled syrup through a fine-mesh strainer, mashing the pulp to extract as much liquid as possible. (You should have about 1 cup.) Refrigerate until ready to use. (The syrup will last for 1 week.)

  3. Step 3

    Batch the cocktail: In a large mason jar or pitcher, combine 6 ounces syrup with the Cognac, juices and ginger beer. Stir with a wooden spoon and seal. (You can mix it up and refrigerate to 1 day in advance.)

  4. Step 4

    When ready to serve, fill six old-fashioned glasses with ice. Stir the batched cocktail (in case it settled while chilling) and divide it equally among glasses. Top each glass with 2 ounces wine and garnish, if desired.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
445 user ratings
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Comments

robin z

If you want to make only one cocktail: 1 oz strawberry syrup .75 oz cognac .5 oz pineapple juice .5 oz pom juice .25+ oz lime juice .5 oz ginger beer 2 oz sparkling wine

Bilko

Tasteee! - try a muddler to smash up the berries and ginger a bit while simmering to get the most flavor out. Once it's cool mix up all the ingredients EXCEPT the alcohol into one of those nice bottles you can't quite throw away - and store that in the frig. Then you can make your single drink, or a non-alcoholic version - if there are any non-alcoholics left these days.

todd sf

This is delicious, and quite a refresher for warm weather. An added bonus was learning the history about it as well.

Nick

I replaced cognac with Uncle Nearest whiskey, which was named after the enslaved man that taught Jack Daniels how to distill. Delicious!

Sallie

We made this cocktail last year for Juneteenth and really liked it… and we froze the leftover syrup. We thawed it out this year and… it was still delicious! This year we added the syrup to lemonade and a shot of vodka. Yummm!

Sara

My store was out of pomegranate juice, but I found pomegranate soda. Subbed that for both the juice and the ginger beer (my syrup was pretty gingery already). This was fabulous and I will make again.

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Credits

Adapted from Edouardo Jordan

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