Monsieur Bucket

Deep in its heart, the Gin Bucket probably always wanted to be a nice cocktail. Typically though, it is a pre-ball Cinderella of grapefruit soda sloshing around in an industrial bucket, siphoned out with a turkey baster and injected into the waiting mouth of a pregaming college student. But remove the bucket and the turkey baster and you realize that what you’re left with is basically just a bubbly punch that is endlessly adaptable to your tastes and whims.

This Gin Bucket gets its bubbles not from a two liter of soda pop, but from sparkling wine, giving an additional boozy kick to the already substantial amount of gin. Fresh lime juice and honey syrup complete a simple, but well-balanced drink. If you want to be traditional about it, you can still serve this out of a bucket (and even with a turkey baster), but if the party you’re planning is more refined than rager, cups and a punch bowl will work just as well.