Spiced Holiday Punch
by Valentine K.The perfect holiday drink for a crowd!
Make the base in advance, and the day of your party, add you liquor or serve it virgin!
Happy holidays!
Valentine.
Spiced Holiday Punch
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Category
drink
Servings
10
Prep Time
30 minutes
Ingredients
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6 to 8 lemons
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½ cup brown sugar
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1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
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4 whole cloves
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4 whole allspice berries
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2 whole star anise
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2 whole cinnamon sticks
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1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
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2 teaspoons loose-leaf oolong, black or green tea leaves
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¼ cup fresh orange juice
- Ice
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1 ounce Spiced Holiday Punch Base
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1 ounce spirit, such as bourbon, rye, Cognac or gin
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3 to 4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
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1 ounce club soda, chilled
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2 ounces dry sparkling wine, chilled
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Lemon or orange wheels or a cinnamon stick, or both, for garnish
Punch base
Punch finishing
Directions
Make the punch base: Using a peeler, peel 4 of the lemons and place the peels in a medium bowl. Reserve the peeled lemons. Add the sugar and salt to the peels and use a muddler to work them into the peels until the peels start to turn slightly translucent, about 2 minutes.
Heat a medium skillet over medium-high. When the pan is hot, add the cloves, allspice berries, star anise, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns. Heat, shaking the pan often, until the spices are fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Watch carefully so the spices do not burn. Add the spices directly to the lemon peel mixture, along with the tea leaves, and muddle for another minute, crushing the spices and tea leaves into the peel mixture, then set aside at room temperature for 8 hours and up to 24.
The next day, add ¼ cup hot water to the citrus mixture, stir gently to dissolve the sugar and set aside to steep for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, juice the reserved lemons. (You should have about ¾ cup lemon juice; you may need to juice 1 or 2 of the remaining lemons.) Add the fresh lemon and orange juices to the spice-sugar mixture, then strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the solids. (You should have a scant 1¼ cups.) Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make your drinks. (The base can be stored, in the refrigerator, for up to 1 month.)
Fill a lowball glass with ice, and add 1 ounce Spiced Holiday Punch Base, 1 ounce spirit and 3 to 4 dashes Peychaud’s bitters. Stir gently to combine. Top with 1 ounce soda water and 2 ounces sparkling wine. Finish with a citrus wheel or cinnamon stick, or both.
Recipe Note
For a Non alcoholic Spiced Holiday Punch, fill a lowball glass with ice, and 1 ounce Spiced Holiday Punch Base and, if using, 3 to 4 dashes Peychaud's bitters. Top with 2 ounces soda water and 2 ounces tonic water. Stir gently to combine and finish with a citrus wheel or cinnamon stick, or both.