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Champagne Holiday Punch Recipe

Champagne Holiday Punch
Total Time: | Makes: About 8 servings

Erick Castro, the former general manager at Rickhouse Bar in San Francisco, makes this easy holiday punch in our You’re Doing It All Wrong video. It’s a flexible recipe that will work with nearly any base spirit if you don’t have genever.

What to buy: Though it’s also infused with botanicals like juniper, genever (a.k.a. Holland or Dutch gin) is a maltier, funkier relative of gin that mixes very well in cocktails. Anchor Distilling and Bols make good versions that can be found at any well-stocked liquor store.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1 1/2 cups genever, chilled if possible
  • 1/2 cup orange curaçao, chilled if possible
  • 1/2 cup Rich Simple Syrup
  • 10 dashes aromatic bitters, such as angostura
  • 1 cup sparkling water
  • 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup sparkling wine or Champagne
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pineapple slices and star anise, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Pour the genever, orange curaçao, simple syrup, and bitters into a punch bowl and stir to combine.
  2. Add the sparkling water, lemon juice, and sparkling wine or Champagne just before serving.
  3. Place a large block of ice in the punch and stir gently just to combine.
  4. Grate nutmeg over top of the punch, and garnish with pineapple slices and star anise.
    Write a review | 3 Reviews
  • Champagne Holiday Punch Recipe
    5

    I just made this for a holiday cocktail party, and it was such a hit. For anything but the smallest punch bowl, you'll need to double the recipe. I did not double the lemon juice, and personally I wanted more of a champagne flavor, so I used an entire bottle in a double recipe. Don't skip the nutmeg. Women and men both enjoyed this, which I think was a good indicator that it is well-balanced and not too sickly sweet.

  • Be sure to use young, clear genever in recipes like this one. The more aged stuff has a strong "wheaty" flavor that overwhelms everything else. Also be warned: this punch is STRONG and will put Aunt Edna on her ear unless served with some food on the side.

  • 3/4 cup is a hell of a lot of lemon juice. I wonder if there is a lot of fizz left after you add all the non-fizzy stuff.

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