Mothers Ruin Punch Recipes

Steps:

• Ahead of time: infuse black tea bags into the sweet vermouth at room temperature, 6 tea bags for a 750 mL bottle, or proportionately if you are preparing less. It will take less than one day to infuse -- gently swirl the bottle occasionally to see how dark it is getting. Usual infusion time is about 6-12 hours.
• In a large pitcher, stir the sugar with the club soda until dissolved. Stir in the gin, grapefruit and lemon juices and sweet vermouth and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Transfer the punch to a large bowl. Gently stir in the champagne and float the grapefruit wheels on top. Serve in punch glasses over ice.

Steps:

• In a pitcher, muddle the sugar cubes with the club soda until the sugar is fully broken up. Add the remaining ingredients (except the champagne) and fill the pitcher three-quarters full with ice cubes. Stir until cold, then strain into a punch bowl over 1 large block of ice. Top with the champagne. Garnish with the grapefruit wheels and serve with a ladle and punch glasses.
• CINNAMON ORANGE TEA–INFUSED SWEET VERMOUTH
• In a large container, combine 3 heaping tablespoons of cinnamon-orange tea (such as Market Spice, available at marketspice.com) and one 750-ml bottle of Martini sweet vermouth and stir well. Let stand at room temperature for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.