Looking For A Drink For Your Next Holiday Party?
Consider this our dissertation on why holiday wine punches are the best cocktails and festive drinks for holiday parties. They are so easy to make and can be made in one large batch so that guests can serve themselves. Which, as host, you know you'll love! Instead of playing host and bartender, you can easily scratch bartender off of your to-dos with these drink recipes. Wine punches are also relatively cheap and are an easy way to take a not so great wine bottle and turn it into the most delicious cocktail your guests have ever tasted.
Now that we've convinced you that holiday wine punches are the way to go this holiday season, let's talk about a few kinds cocktail recipes you can make this holiday season.
The Classic: Mulled Wine
We'll level with you, to make this delicious red wine punch, you might need a few spices that you don't commonly have lying around your house. For example, you need star anise and cardamom, as well as orange slices. But, we promise you, this party punch worth the trip to the store for your next get together!
Mulled Wine is an incredibly classic and fragrant holiday drink. Most commonly made with red wine, like a fruity red wine or port, Mulled Wine is served hot! Although wine and hot are two words that often do not go together, Mulled Wine has to be served hot because, without heat, the spices won't release their rich, mouth-watering atoms and flavors.
Many different recipes call for different spices and techniques when it comes to making these delicious, spiced drinks. However, let's discuss the most fundamental ingredients you'll need when creating this cocktail!
Wine: It might go without saying, but to make mulled wine, you need a bottle of wine! But here's the fun part about mulled wine, you really don't need to grab a fancy or pricey bottle of wine. Instead, it is preferred and suggested to go with a basic dry red or white wine bottle. Wine doesn't need to be fancy because once the wine is heated, some of the flavor compounds are destroyed. Why waste a bottle of expensive wine only to have some of its compounds destroyed? Additionally, mulling spices are extremely powerful and drown out the wine's subtle flavors. So when it comes to mulled wine, always opt for cheaper.
Cinnamon: This spice is used in a majority of mulled wine recipes. It can make your drink look beautiful and festive if you have some cinnamon sticks to add. However, ground cinnamon also works well. Some mulled wine experts argue that loose or powdered spices can lead to a grainy or gritty texture, but we've found that it's not anything worth worrying about!
Mulling spices: From country to country, mulling spices vary. Overall, the most common spices are orange and star anise.
Sweetener: Some prefer their mulled wines to be sweeter than others. If you're hoping for a deliciously sweet drink, grab a sweetener. If you are actively avoiding processed sugar, maple syrup and honey are also great options!
Extra liqueur: An easy way to make your cocktail a little more festive is by adding a bit more fun to your drink! With a little bit of brandy, bourbon, or cognac, you can make your drink extra jolly!
Cranberry White Wine Punch
We don't mean to have favorites, but if we had to choose the prettiest cocktail on this list, Cranberry White Wine Punch might be the winner! Cranberries always scream the holiday season, and not just because they're beautiful but also because they actually have a history with the holidays. Cranberries have been consumed at Thanksgiving dinners since Pilgrims prepared the very first feat.
A drink that screams Christmas Cheer, here are two delicious cranberry white wine punches we have on our to-do list!
Well, Plated Christmas Punch - Takes less than five minutes to prepare and is filled with festive, bubbly deliciousness! Throw some ice cubes in the punch bowl with your sparkling wine and cranberry juice so that it'll stay cold the whole night long.
Miss in the Kitchen's Cranberry Wine Punch - A delicious and gorgeous drink to add to your holiday spread, especially when you garnish it with some fresh cranberries!
Holiday Sangria
Is it really a holiday if you don't have sangria? Rhetorical question. Although sangria is often associated with warm summer nights, it makes for a great winter cocktail. Before you shake your head and disagree with us, hear us out: sangria is an incredibly versatile cocktail with a short prep time. Essentially, it's just wine soaked in a variety of fruits and potentially some brandy. How does that not scream holiday cocktail?
Like all of the other cocktails on this list, sangria is an easy drink to make ahead and serve in a punch bowl for guests to help themselves. But what makes sangria extra special is that it actually tastes better if you let it sit a little longer. A day or two in the refrigerator will give your drink enough time to fully mingle and come together.
When it comes to making a holiday sangria, the options are endless. While a sangria for hot summer days might feature fresh mint, watermelon, fresh strawberries, and lemon juice, a winter sangria gives you the opportunity to introduce some deeper flavors into this wine cocktail. From a Moscato sangria to an apple cider sangria, there are so many delicious options to choose from. If you're looking to dilute the alcohol content, you can try adding a lemon-lime soda on top when you serve it. Here are a few recipes we are particularly interested in sipping on this holiday season!
The Rising Spoon's Fall & Winter White Wine Sangria: Get all of the flavors of fall and winter in one drink topped with club soda! Refreshing and not too sweet, this sangria is elegant enough for a lavish holiday party but simple enough to be made and enjoyed at home. With cranberries, apples, and oranges, you might even get your day's fruit in one drink!
The Modern Proper Holiday Sangria: Incorporate all of your favorite holiday flavors like cranberry and cinnamon in this light but a refreshing beverage.
English Christmas Punch
Pop quiz: what English, known for creating some of the world's best-known fictional characters and arguably the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, loved Christmas punch? Ding ding, Charles Dickens! The great English writer often wove spirits into his writing and even came up with his own punch. The recipe he included in a letter to a friend, explaining that it might make her, for ninety years…a beautiful Punchmaker in more senses than one." The recipe calls for a mix of cognac, rum, citrus, and sugar and requires the chef to set the spirit mix on fire.
If punch is Christmasy enough for Charles Dickens, we're confident than punch is Christmasy enough for everyone! Get a taste of these renditions of the punch Charles Dickens enjoyed himself, and please, be careful of your eyebrows if you plan on following through with the setting alcohol on fire part.
Tori Avey's Smoking Bishop: Enjoy this mulled wine holiday punch that's featured in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
Food 52 Updated Charles Dickens Punch - A modern take on Dickens' recipe to his friend, the author reduced the amount of sugar, made some adjustments to rum and brandy, and added some tea for a delicious, surely Dickens approved rum punch.
Pomegranate Punch
When the holiday season officially starts, people living in Greece start seeing pomegranates absolutely everywhere. It's literally Kylie Jenner's dream come true. (In case you didn't put two and two together, she reportedly loves pomegranates) In Greek tradition, pomegranates symbolize fertility and good luck. As such, they incorporate pomegranates into their Christmas and New Year's traditions. For example, a pomegranate is hung about the front door for the twelve days of Christmas, and the fruit is placed on the table at Christmas time.
Because we're all about doing what we can to make the holidays more fun and enjoyable, we might as well incorporate pomegranates into our holiday traditions, too. What better way to do so than by drinking them?! Here are two pomegranate punch recipes that have caught our eye this season.
Southern Living's Sparkling Pomegranate Punch - If we're honest, this recipe had us at 'sparkling.' Refreshing and fruity, this punch is made with prosecco and homemade simple syrup that's balanced by tangy ginger ale and vodka for a grown-up, not too sweet flavor.
Half Baked Harvest Rudolph's Rockin' Pomegranate Jingle Juice Punch - A delicious concoction of sweet pomegranate juice, orange liquor, lime, champagne, and ginger beer. It's easy to get into the holiday spirit with this party drink.
Big Batch Mimosas
If you don't have champagne, it's not a real celebration. Period. End. Of. Discussion. Because champagne is notorious and popped at all significant accomplishments and events, it wouldn't be Christmas without it! And since we're sharing how to make big batch cocktails, let's go over some giant batch mimosas that take you almost no total time and that your guests will hope are bottomless! And there's no shame if you want to personalize your mimosas by swapping the orange juice for pineapple juice or even a splash of lime juice.
Delish's Christmosas- The drink's name says it all!
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