Boozy Punches - NYTimes.com When 22,000 bartenders, distillers, industry reps and cocktail enthusiasts gathered in New Orleans last week for the 11th annual Tales of the Cocktail convention, one truth emerged: punches are back. Gin punches complemented sour flavors. Whiskey punches swirled with citrus. Nearly every event featured a bowl at the bar that was regularly drained and refilled. At the Absolut Welcome Party, 16 rooms of the French Quarter's historic Arnaud's Restaurant were transformed into a maze of bespoke bars and boîtes, featuring punch-bowl fountains of such classic concoctions as the sea breeze, the corpse reviver and the honey pot. And at the closing day's annual Pig & Punch fund-raiser, herbaceous Jagermeister and Barenjager Honey Liqueur punctuated flowing bowls of tequila and plum-wine punch. The colonial-era precursor to the cocktail has been enjoying a renaissance ever since the release of the cocktail historian David Wondrich's 2010 book, "Punch: The Delights (And Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl." Typically comprised of five ingredients (spirit, citrus, sugar, spice, water), punches have grown in popularity in part because of their low-maintenance preparation - all that's required before serving is floating a giant ice cube in a massive bowl. One of the tastiest varieties was served up by the Dead Rabbit, an Irish American bar on the southern tip of Manhattan, which took home awards for World's Best New Cocktail Bar, World's Best Cocktail Menu and International Bartender of the Year. At its pop-up bar at the trendy new French Quarter restaurant Cane and Table, Jack McGarry, the recipient of the third award, served up an Irish whiskey punch created especially for Tales, called A La Taylor. As the bowl got low, the sweaty mixologist paused his two-handed shaking routine just long enough to reassure concerned onlookers, "There's plenty more. We've got enough punch to last all day. Here's his recipe. A La Taylor by Jack McGarry of the Dead Rabbit The zest of 8 clementines The zest of 8 lemons 200 milligrams turbinado sugar 750 milliliters Redbreast 12-year-old Irish whiskey 2 ounces Suze Gentiane liqueur 1 ounce tamarind nectar 200 milliliters fresh lemon juice 200 milliliters fresh clementine juice 750 milliliters strong Assam tea 15 dashes of Dead Rabbit Orinoco bitters 10 dashes of eucalyptus tincture In a large punch bowl, prepare an oleo-saccharum by tossing the clementine and lemon zest with the turbinado sugar. Literally "oily sugar," oleo-saccharum is a quintessential punch ingredient made by muddling pith-free citrus peel (meaning it has none of the spongy white stuff) with superfine sugar, then letting the mixture stand for a few hours to extract all of the citrus oils from the peels. Add the remaining ingredients to the oleo-saccharum mixture and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove the zest from the punch and add it to a nonreactive container (a Bundt pan works well) filled with distilled water. Place the container in the freezer until the water is frozen solid. Add the frozen, zest-filled ice cube to the punch and serve.