Romancing Bridal, Engagement Showers & Garden Parties with Pretty Floral Drinks & Punch Recipes

It’s the season for showers – not the spring showers that bring May flowers; rather the bridal and engagement kind that brings — well, love. Love of family. Love of nature. And love of food and drink.

I’m sharing some of my favorite new – and tried and true – cocktail recipes to make the party pretty and special – and delicious.

Remember, finishing touches creates the ambiance that will be talked about long after the party swag bags are emptied and enjoyed. The experience lives on.

First up, is Hinterland Punch that is as pretty as a nosegay.

Hinterland Punch

Created by Josh Mazza

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

12oz Jägermeister

5 oz Grenadine

10 oz Ruby Red Grapefruit

20 oz Roobis tea

1 Bottle (26 oz) Sparkling Rosé

8 oz raspberries

8 oz strawberries

Method:

Add edible flowers to tea and freeze in a bread pan. Combine other ingredients in a punch bowl. Add frozen tea/flowers.

Garnish:

Cut berries and add into punch.

Aperol Spritz
This is one of my most favorite go-to summer drinks. And this year, I made it for our annual Independence Day Fireworks / Birthday Party event

Every year I put out a hostess drink on the kitchen island so that when guests arrive I can offer them a warm welcome and a refreshing drink with gracious hospitality.

This is the prep and testing — the crystal glasses came out later!

You could readily set this up for a shower either on an island or on a hostess cart.

Ingredients:

1 part Aperol

2 parts Sparkling white wine or Prosecco

3 parts Q Club Soda

I added 1 part homegrown Rhubarb simple syrup

Method:

Build cocktail over ice in a tall collins glass or white wine glass or a small cordial glass. Or a punch bowl

Garnish:

Orange Twist or quarter “smile”

My Finishing Touches Garnish is to add a homegrown garden sprig of orange thyme clipped to the glass with a teeny-tiny clothes pin — orange-colored, of course. The essential oil in the herb gives a hint of earthy, refreshing orange with every sip. Bellissimo!

You can also use the recipe in a punch bowl – and float the oranges and herbs.

I make a special ice ring for pure punch pizzazz.

My famous bridal punch with the rose wreath encased in ice mold is a favorite with the “ladies who lunch.”

This is a dreamy, special bit of floating florals surrounded by a peachy or pink punch confection. It never fails to elicit the oohs and ahhs that something pretty and out of the ordinary does to our senses.

How To:

To make a Finishing Touches ice mold, simply fill a bundt pan three-quarters of the way full of distilled water. The distilled water has the impurities removed so the ice will be crystal clear — the icicle white by-product of freezing tap water will not allow the visual delight of the blossoms or berries to be the star of the show.

When the water is frozen, add in an edible floral, herb, citrus peel or berry of choice. I’ve used rose petals, lavender, johnny jump-ups, and cranberries. You can match the bride’s colors or match to the tablescape.

Then add in another layer of distilled water on top of the fruit or herbs and freeze.

Take out of the mold when you’re ready to serve the punch, warming the bottom and sides with warm water — I just run the tap a bit and use my hands to warm the pan. You could also set in a pan of warm water for a bit – especially if you’re preparing another dish and have water on the stove.

When you can see the ice is loose in the pan, turn over into the punch bowl. The mold will float while your guests enjoy the pretty and delicious punch. In the end, you’ll have a ring of flowers or blossoms in the bowl.

Another pretty drink for a shower – or a garden party showcasing the beauty of nature’s botanicals is the

Reyka Siren by Ingi R. Sigurdsson

This cocktail recipe showcases the additional garden glamour florals in individual ice cubes rather than the circle wreath. Here the mixologist Sigurdsson also uses flavors in the ice – not just visuals – and an orchid! How glamorous is that?

The St. Germaine provides elderberry flavor – from the plant Sambucus canadensis or nigra. The elderberry is such a pretty plant – you can’t help admire the inflorescence.

Victorians and today – Eastern Europeans – continue to love this traditional, natural herbal liqueur. Since 2007 it’s readily available from Bacardi as St.Germaine.

The taste is a little like honey with orange blossoms if that makes sense to you. It does to me!

I really adore this liquor and use it frequently to add nuanced florals to cocktails and punch.

I suggest you have a bottle on hand to add to food and drink recipes. You will thank me…

Ingredients:
3 Parts Reyka Vodka

1 ½ parts Fresh lemon juice

1 Parts Simple Syrup (1:1)

1 parts St. Germaine

6 parts Champagne or sparkling wine

Method:

Combine all ingredients into cocktail shaker except champagne. Shake, top, garnish and serve. Shake/strain over the fruit juice cubes/top with 6 parts prosecco in a Bordeaux/Burgundy wine glass

Garnish:

With 2 cranberry juice cubes/2 grapefruit juice cubes/ 1 large simple syrup ice cube with orange blossom water, rose water, frozen edible Sonja orchid.

Garnish How-To:

For Flower ice cube liquid:

4 liters water

24 parts simple syrup 1:1

10 droppers Orange flower water

10 droppers rose water

Stir till combined

Freeze in 1×1 molds with Sonia Orchid

The other drink recipe I must include here but will have more to say on later, uses Empress Gin

I plan to write a feature on this soon. However, I couldn’t allow a story on the oh-so-pretty punches and botanical party drinks go out without including this new, artisanal Empress 1908 gin. 

Besides being handcrafted, the gin is a natural, color-changing spirit. How cool is this?!

Guests will be cooing with the magic. I didn’t have a chance to taste the Empress Gin – I’m assured its botanicals are top-tier — but I did try the the curious, authentic pea vine (Clitoria ternatea) or “butterfly pea” ingredient that waves its magic “leaf” to turn a drink’s color from blue to purple to red.

That’s a lot of shades on the color spectrum. And a whole lot of shades on the wowsy, happiness scale!

Plus, doesn’t every bride to be want to be a royalty of sorts? So Empress Gin is spot-on for a bridal party.

Empress and Tonic

Ingredients:

2 oz Empress 1908 gin

3 oz Tonic Water

Grapefruit

Method:

Build on ice in a tall glass. Stir well.

Garnish:

Grapefruit slice

For a punch-full of color and fun, just use the recipe and multiply by the number of guests.

You can also create an ice mold using grapefruit slices or peel. Or if you can get the butterfly pea leaves — or local pea leaves – or pretty blue or red blossoms – you’re going to the star hostess.

Why do you think they call it “punch?”

Cheers.

How glamorous…