Jack Daniels makes a number of bottled beverages and one of them is called Down Home Punch, Tiffany happens to be a big fan of this which created a little bit of a problem when she moved from Virginia to live with me in North Carolina, it’s not sold here!  The other “problem” is this is a pricier bottled beverage, it typically would run about $7.99 + tax for a 6 pack, which at face value isn’t terrible, but the bottles are only 10.5 oz. rather than the far more typical 12 oz bottle.  We thought about importing it from Virginia when we were up there, but we were concerned with the legality of the whole enterprise.  That meant that she could only have her favorite bottled beverage when we were in Virginia, to me that seemed a crying shame, so I learned how to make it.

The benefits of making it yourself are pretty obvious, first of all you can tailor it to your specific liking, like it sweeter? add an extra dash of Grenadine, like it Peachier? add a little more peach schnapps, and a few other tips I’ll share with you in just a minute.  The basic formula for Jack Daniels Down Home Punch goes as follows:

• 1 part Jack Daniels whiskey
• 1 part Peach Schnapps
• 1 part Sour Mix
• 2 parts Orange Juice
• 1 dash Grenadine
• 1 part Lemon Lime soda – such as 7up or Sprite

Assembling the drink seems intimidating at first glance but once you’ve done it a time or two it’s a breeze.  Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker  full of ice with the exception of the soda (as a rule you never shake soda when making a drink because it will remove the fizz), shake vigorously and then pour it in a glass with ice and the lemon lime soda.

It’s actually not cheaper to make this drink yourself, I was kind of surprised when I did the math, the bottled beverage runs about $0.14/ounce and making it yourself runs about $0.15/ounce it’s close but not quite cheaper.  If you lived in a state that had really cheap liquor, North Carolina does not fall in that category, you can probably drop the price a bit.  If you used a lower grade whiskey I’m sure it could drop the price quite a bit, and in a drink like this you’d probably not be able to tell the difference, but then it wouldn’t be Jack Daniels Down Home Punch.

Both Tiffany and I like to eat healthy, experiment and find ways we can remove calories and unnecessary carbs. In that category it is a big nod to the home made concoction.  Low calorie and alcohol are at odds with each other, there is no way to have calorie free alcohol, but you can reduce the mixers calories pretty easily.  Make your own sour mix with artificial sweetener (or purchase sugar free sour mix), low cal OJ, sugar free Grenadine, and diet soda and you drastically cut the calories from sugar in this drink.

The other nice thing about making it yourself is it just tastes better, I don’t know if it’s the taste of pride from making it, using fresher ingredients or what, but we tried the bottled version next to the home made punch and you can tell they are the same beverage but the bottled one tastes less complex and flavorful in comparison.