Am I correct in thinking that when scaling up a punch recipe for 4 into one that serves 30-some, you would not use 8 times the amount of spices? For example, if it called for two cinnamon sticks and two cloves, you wouldn’t use 16 of each - as the spice won’t scale proportionally with the booze, right?
Any rule I’d thumb here? I was thinking just double it to play it safe.
I don’t see why not, but like you said, you could always just play it safe.
Care to share the recipe you intend to tinker with? I’d say most punch recipes can be found in different versions for different servings. I’d think 30 would be a common number to serve, for a punch, so that size is probably out there on the internetz, somewhere. Or in one my bartending books.
I just can’t see any good reason it wouldn’t scale up proportionally.
Planter’s Punch from Barbecue Bible. It’s on Google Books. I might also make Singapore Sling as a punch.
Why would you think it wouldn’t scale proportionally? I’d use 8x the amount of everything, including spices.
Stuff like cloves are just so potent, that I thought a multiples of them would overwhelm. Like perhaps steeping with two cloves is enough for a four person serving, and it’s also enough for 8 or 16. I’m happy to be wrong.
They’re not THAT overwhelming. Really, with spices like cloves and cinnamon, time means more than amount. The longer you steep the more flavor you get out of them - if you’re making flavored liqueurs, for example, you tend to leave the spices in for weeks at a time to get the flavors out.
For a punch you’re not leaving them in long enough to make much of a difference, so I’d go ahead and use them proportionally.