USBG Hawaii “Punch for Pooches” Fundraiser Event

This past weekend, the Hawaii Chapter of the United States Bartenders’ Guild held a fundraiser for the Hawaiian Humane Society: Punch for Pooches. Brilliant!

Shake and I love punch and are very sad that it’s not more popular here. Fix that, people. I mean, how can you resist something like this:

Right? That’s “The Trench” from The Manifest’s Justin Park and Jared Fread. Kraken Spiced Rum, pear brandy, fresh lemon juice, bitter chocolate, cinnamon and chili bitters. A lot of the bartenders made fall-flavored punches; it was awesome. I really liked the subtle chocolate fragrance and flavor in this one.

The boys from The Manifest actually made two punches. The other was extremely complex and Shake’s favorite: The Consummate Gentleman. Distillery No. 209 Gin, tobacco-infused Carpano Antica, Cynar, graham cracker, fresh lemon, Angostura, orange and cherry bark bitters, sea salt and apple cider vinegar.

Justin told me, “You’re not going to like this.” (He’s very good about remembering my extreme dislike of Scotch and, by extension, peaty flavors. He also likes to photobomb my shots of his drinks.) Actually, I kind of did. I probably couldn’t handle an entire glass, but I really appreciated how all the flavors melded together. Justin said the inspiration came from one evening when he was smoking a cigar and eating graham crackers and realized how well the flavors went together. I think with some tweaking, my Smoking Jacket Cookies would go well with it!

We had an early dinner to go to, so we could only spend about an hour and a half sampling punches (there were eleven, by my count). Obviously we couldn’t try them all. Some standouts in my book: Alicia Yamachika and Allie Haines of Livestock Tavern made a delicious tea-based one; Joey Joyce of Lucky Belly embraced the Thanksgiving flavors with a black pepper and sage infused tequila punch; and Nick Gray of The Pig & The Lady used a vinegar shrub in his which added a bright note that I liked.

And we can’t forget the pooches! This fella was a total sweetheart. If you paused at all when walking past for more punch, he’d come up for some love. Shake talked to his owner and found out that he was a Humane Society adoptee (both the owner’s dogs were).