Champagne Holiday Punch Recipe

Adapted from Erick Castro

Total Time: 5 mins | 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

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.

SOURCE: http://www.chow.com/recipes/27987-champagneholiday-punch