Bourbon Amaretto Punch

Here in North Carolina, July typically means hot, humid days that call for a refreshing drink and a nice dip in the closest body of water. If you want a refreshing adult beverage, whiskey is rarely the first thing you grab to make a drink. However, you can take our word that this Bourbon Amaretto Punch will be your new favorite warm weather libation.

This recipe uses two North Carolina spirits, Boundary Street Bourbon and Oak City Amaretto. These two delicious, well crafted spirits in combination with fresh citrus, a little bit of sweetness and the spiciness of ginger beer create one of our favorite booze heavy cocktails. However, if you prefer to go a little lighter on the booze, you can replace the Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur with maraschino cherry juice. We would also suggest using a non-alcoholic ginger beer such as Fentiman's or Barritt's.

In a shaker glass, combine the bourbon, amaretto, citrus juices, simple syrup and Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur*. Add ice and shake vigorously to combine all the ingredients. Use a Hawthorne Strainer to strain the mixture over fresh ice in a high ball glass. Top with Crabbie's Ginger Beer* and garnish with a maraschino cherry. You can also add wheels or twists of lime, lemon and/or orange to make your punch look even more fancy. 

This recipe is also easy to prepare in advance for a crowd. Just change the ounces to cups, double the recipe and toss it in a pitcher for your friends. If you are making it for a crowd,  shaking it may prove difficult and time consuming. We suggest combining all of the ingredients except for ginger beer in a pitcher and stirring them well. Then add ginger beer and stir. Leave ice out of the pitcher so that it doesn't water down the mixture that you have or cause the ginger beer to lose some of its carbonation.


*Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur can be found at your local liquor store and you can find Crabbie's ginger beer in the beer section of most grocery stores.

​Ingredients:

• 2oz Boundary St. Bourbon
• 1oz Oak City Amaretto
• 1oz fresh lemon juice
• 1oz fresh lime juice
• 0.5oz fresh orange juice
• 1oz simple syrup
• 0.25oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur 
• 2oz Crabbie's ginger beer

Directions:
Add bourbon, amaretto, juices, simple syrup, and maraschino liqueur to a shaker glass. Add ice and shake well. Strain into rocks glass over ice in highball glass. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.