Champagne Holiday Punch Recipe
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.
- 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
- Pour the genever, orange curaçao, simple syrup, and bitters into a punch bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the sparkling water, lemon juice, and sparkling wine or Champagne just before serving.
- Place a large block of ice in the punch and stir gently just to combine.
- Grate nutmeg over top of the punch, and garnish with pineapple slices and star anise.

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.