punsch ghoul bowle

1 1/2 oz Appleton Estate Rum
1/4 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1/2 oz Batavia Arrack
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao
1/4 oz Demerara Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, add a straw, and float 1/2 oz of house red wine. Normally, the outer vessel would contain dry ice in a water bath to garnish the drink with fog, but their supplier was out of dry ice that day.

For my second drink at Backbar, I asked bartender Amanda Greenfield for the Punsch Ghoul Bowle which was the Halloween-themed drink of the week. The drink was crafted by Kat Lamper and was subtitled, "A Halloween treat for grownups inspired by a punch bowl cocktail popular in 1900." When I inquired as to which drink it was based off of, I was shown David Wondrich's Punch book that was open to the section on Punschglühbowle; that recipe consisted of two parts light red wine to one part Batavia Arrack along with orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar that was served both heated and flaming. Here, the drink was more spirit driven with the addition of Jamaican rums and flavored with chocolate liqueur.
The Punsch Ghoul Bowle began with a red wine aroma that gave way to a lemon and orange sip with a dark note from the crème de cacao. Next, the swallow showcased the funky rums and Arrack along with a complementary earthy note from the chocolate element. Over time, the red wine float entered the equation and appeared mostly in the sip.