Even crackerjack coquettes can use a little help chatting up a paramour every once in a while. Flirting is always easier when there’s liquid courage involved, and perhaps even more so when you’re ladling it à deux. Punch bowls appeal to multiple sensibilities: there are the classic, cut-glass nebulae of 1950s house parties; your grandmother’s favorite for fancying up the holiday kids’ table; or those vats of mystery bug juice at camp — later, at frat parties. Sharing a punch bowl at a smokin’-hot nightspot is an easy way to toast your friends, and make a few more in the process.
At Eastern Standard (528 Comm Ave., Boston, 617.532.9100), gorgeously colored barware kicks up the punch party. Try not to ambush bar manager Jackson Cannon with a punch-bowl request (as we did, oops!), and he’ll whip up a masterful improvisation. A recent version was a play on the classic Aviation cocktail — Hendrick’s Gin, Luxardo maraschino liqueur, pomegranate, lemon, bergamot (a small, citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia), and a smooch of champagne. Tasting like a cup of Earl Gray tea sweetened with SweeTarts, this modern party punch will knock your socks off. It’s up to you to shed the rest of your clothes. Punch bowls for four people start at $20.
By now you know that Drink (348 Congress Street, Boston, 617.695.1806) is the place du jour to savor a lovingly crafted cocktail, but a lesser-known tidbit is that bar manager John Gertsen loves to make communal drinks such as punches and pitchers. He’s even accumulated quite a collection of glassware. Try the Appeasement Punch ($10 per person), made with apple brandy, Lillet, agave nectar, tea — “I like a light tea, like an oolong,” says Gertsen — orange peels, lemon juice, and allspice. Or, let the Drink staff know what tickles your palate, and they’ll tailor your brew for two (or more), accordingly.
Of course, you can always throw fancy-pants caution to the wind, and snag a Scorpion Bowl ($15.75), the bastardized “Chinese” punch of choice, at The Comedy Studio (1238 Mass Ave., Cambridge, 617.661.6507). Big laughs plus a big bowl of booze? Big score, hot stuff.
