Recipe from Edouardo Jordan
Adapted by Nicole Taylor
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- 4(437)
- Notes
- Read community notes
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
- 1½cups fresh strawberries (about 6 ounces), hulled and halved
- 1cup granulated sugar
- ½cup sliced (unpeeled) fresh ginger (about 2 ounces)
- 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)
For the Strawberry Syrup
For the co*cktail
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
337 calories; 0 grams fat; 0 grams saturated 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
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.
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.)
Step
3
Batch the co*cktail: 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.)
Step
4
When ready to serve, fill six old-fashioned glasses with ice. Stir the batched co*cktail (in case it settled while chilling) and divide it equally among glasses. Top each glass with 2 ounces wine and garnish, if desired.
Ratings
4
out of 5
437
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Cooking Notes
robin z
If you want to make only one co*cktail:1 oz strawberry syrup.75 oz cognac.5 oz pineapple juice.5 oz pom juice.25+ oz lime juice.5 oz ginger beer2 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.
Jane
This looks and sounds amazing. I'll be making this. Thank you for recipe and the history of the drink.
Robin S
I do not drink alcohol, so I made this drink with grapefruit seltzer in place of the cognac and sparkling wine, and it was absolutely delicious! I think any citrus flavored seltzer would be good, or plain seltzer plus extra lime juice. You definitely need some tart to balance the sweetness of the strawberry syrup, pineapple juice and ginger beer. But, man, is this a delicious and gorgeous drink! I'll be making this all summer long! What a treat!
Rachel
Suggestions for making this nonalcoholic?
Mr. Pickles
He shoulda called it... My entire staff walked out on me
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 co*cktail 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.
Marian
I took this to a party. Doubled all ingredients except the sugar. Delicious, perfect, did I say delicious?
EHSMD
Fantastic—yum. Made a separate non alcoholic batch, subbing la croix seltzer for the booze.
Mr. Pickles
He shoulda called it... My entire staff walked out on me
LZ
Delicious! I didn’t have grapefruit, so I used lemon juice. I also used ginger ale and vodka for the same reasons - didn’t have cognac or ginger beer. Very refreshing!
Tatiana Delaserna
I added slices of jalapeño to the syrup and it turned out absolutely delicious with just a bite of spicy.
Juana
Loved it! You can make the syrup and it lasts more than a week.
EPL
Made this. Probably the best co*cktail ever. Probably didn't hurt that I used Hennessey XO for the cognac. Trying it with black cherries now because they are in season at the moment.
K
Way, way, waaaayyy too sweet. I halved the sugar and omitted the pineapple juice, and it was still too much, not refreshing at all. Watered it down by half with seltzer—STILL too much. I might try something ginger-hibiscus based instead next time around.
Thomas
Great co*cktail. I halved the amount of syrup in the recipe. It was still sweet, but only having one or two we were ok with that.
Mead
Exceptionally tasty — and nice to look at, as well. My new favorite party punch. But it also packs a punch, so pace yourself accordingly! Easy to overdo it with something so appealing.
Alice Kaiser
without the dry sparkling wine, it it too sweet for my taste. Very gingery!
Vanessa
It is easy to tweak this recipe and make it less sweet. I followed the recipe and used about 3/4 sparkling wine and 1/4 of the rest. It was quite refreshing on a hot day. My company enjoyed the drinks too!
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