Cocktail corner: Spiking your punch bowl

Remember the Vine of the woman who said the recipe needed two shots of vodka and poured half the damn bottle in? That’s what these spiked punch bowls are going for.

These mixes won’t be riot punch (a sh*t ton of juice and a sh*t ton of booze), and they aren’t just water, Crystal Light and vodka either. Try something new!

Tropical Vodka Punch

8 ounces vodka (Stoli), 8 ounces orange curaçao, 6 ounces cranberry juice, 1 ounce grenadine

This mix is a powerful punch that would have fans of fruity drinks lining up for it.

Stolichnaya is probably the best Russian vodka out there, so it’s hard to not recommend. However if you don’t want to drop the cash for it, any semi-decent vodka will do. Smirnoff, Svedka, or any other brand that isn’t a well at Stubbies should do the trick.

Any orange curaçao will do. It’s a sweet liqueur and mixing it with the juice is a great option. The juice combined with the grenadine gives a lovely fruity taste, but will put you on your ass if you’re not careful.

If you really hate any taste of booze, just go heavier with the cranberry juice, but keep the grenadine amount the same.

Tasty Hangover

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, 1/6 cup sugar, 6 oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, 8-10 oz ginger ale, ice, vodka until you can barely taste it

I love strawberries, so I went a little overboard on them, but this alcoholic version of strawberry lemonade is amazing.

Personally, I think that for this potion you need to slowly add the vodka. My personal choice is Tito’s but any will do in this instance. Just remember if you use Taaka or God knows what else, you’ll have an even nastier hangover in the morning.

If you like to keep things simple, this would be a great way to make a new drink that your friends will appreciate.

This next drink isn’t meant to be made in a punch bowl, but it is always important to branch out.

Gin and Goose Eggs

1 ounce gin, 1 egg white or whole egg, 2 ounces sweet/sour mix, 2 ounces cream, drop orange flower water, 1 ounce orange juice (optional), 4 drops vanilla (optional)

Personally I’m not a huge fan of this one, but eggs can be used in mixed drinks.

Also, it is possible to get these ingredients in Pullman, but to be honest, it wasn’t worth the work.

While all of the ingredients do kind of work together there are other drinks that would be just as good. 

If you want to try new drinks, first start by experimenting with the liquor you are using. A liquor being more expensive might mean it’s better, but finding what you like is important. Otherwise you’ll just be taking other people’s advice for the rest of your time drinking, and that’s not as fun as experimenting.