oleosaccharum

with orange and lemon zest, for holiday whiskey punch:

Ingredients

For the oleosaccharum:
4 lemons and/or oranges
1 cup sugar

For the punch:
Oleosaccharum
1 750-ml bottle of rye whiskey
12 hard shakes of Angostura bitters
Large block of ice

Preparation:

Peel the lemons with a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible. Combine the lemon peel and sugar in a bowl, and muddle them together with a cocktail muddler or a heavy wooden spoon. Allow the mixture to rest, covered, for an hour or more, or until the sugar has melted. Stir again before using. (Alternately, you can combine the peel and sugar in a vacuum-seal bag, and allow them to break down for 4 to 6 hours.)

Add the oleosaccharum to your punch bowl, including the peel. Add the whiskey and stir until all sugar is dissolved. Add bitters, stir, then stir in 750 ml of very cold water. (Use the empty whiskey bottle for measuring.) Add the ice, and stir a few times to further cool the punch. Ladle into glasses to serve.