Rosemary Punch
Rita Salman
August 01, 2012
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Rosemary Punch
Makes enough to fill a punch bowl (with ice). Recipe is from Rita Salman, president, Baton Rouge Herb Society.
2 cups water
½ cup fresh rosemary needles (to strip needles, run fingertips opposite of growth)
1 (46-oz.) can pineapple juice
2 liters ginger ale
1. Make a rosemary tea up to a week ahead: Boil water in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add rosemary, and cover. Steep 5 minutes. Strain. (Be sure and wipe all of the droplets from the cover back into the pot as this is the “goodness” of the herb.) Put in a jar and refrigerate.
2. The night before making the punch, freeze can of pineapple juice and put ginger ale in the refrigerator.
3. At party time, run tap water on can of frozen pineapple juice until you can feel it loosen. Open both sides of can and slide out into punch bowl. Mash frozen juice until slushy. Add ginger ale. Add half of the rosemary tea and taste. Each batch of rosemary tea differs in strength because each plant is unique. Adjust taste by adding more tea.
Note: To keep punch chilled and undiluted, make an ice mold with pineapple juice and rosemary tea up to a week early. Fill mold with rosemary sprigs, rose petals or edible flowers.