How to Make Punch With Vodka and Wine

Making Merry Mandarin Champaign Punch

Zest an orange and lemon. Wash the lemons and oranges under running water, and scrub the peels with a vegetable brush. Pat the fruits dry, and set one orange and one lemon aside. With the other lemon and orange, use a zester, vegetable peeler, or sharp knife to carefully remove the outer zest from the fruit. Place the zest into a small metal or heavy ceramic bowl. The zest pieces shouldn’t be more than an inch (2.5 cm) wide if you're using a knife to zest the citrus. Avoid peeling the pith with the zest. The pith is the white part under the zest, and it can be quite bitter.

Make the oleo-saccharum. Sprinkle the sugar over the lemon and orange zest and toss the mixture with a spoon to coat the zest with the sugar. Use a muddler, pestle, or heavy wooden spoon to gently pound the mixture. Continue pounding for a few minutes, until the citrus starts to release its oils and the mixture becomes slightly wet. Set the mixture aside for an hour. Oleo-saccharum is a nineteenth century cocktail ingredient made by combining citrus oil and sugar.

Combine the oleo-saccharum and vodka. After an hour, the zest and sugar mixture should be quite wet, as the citrus will have released its oils. Transfer the oil and zest to a large punch bowl that will hold about 3 quarts (3 L). Pour the mandarin vodka over the oleo-saccharum and leave it for about five minutes. This will give the sugar mixture time to dissolve into the vodka.

Add the remaining punch ingredients. Once the sugar and vodka are combined, add the vermouth, absinth, orange juice, and fresh lemon juice to the punch bowl. Add 15 to 20 ice cubes, and then slowly pour the sparkling wine into the mixture. Stir the mixture gently to combine all the ingredients. Adding the sparkling wine last will help to preserve the carbonation, and make the punch light and refreshing.

Garnish with mixed berries and citrus wheels before serving. When you're ready to serve the punch, add in the mixed berries. Slice the remaining lemon and orange into disks, and arrange them in a layer on top of the punch. Use a ladle to portion out servings and enjoy!

Making a Warm Cranberry Wine Punch

Heat the non-alcoholic punch base. In a large saucepan, combine the cranberry juice, lemonade, and ginger ale. Heat the mixture over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes, until it’s warmed through. To make a spiced punch, add two whole cloves, a cinnamon stick, a whole star anise, two bay leaves, and a pinch of fresh nutmeg to the mixture as the punch warms up.

Add the alcohol. When the punch base is heated through, add the cranberry wine and vodka to the saucepan as well. Turn the heat to low and continue heating the punch for another 10 minutes, or until the mixture is thoroughly warmed. Adding the alcohol last and turning the heat down will prevent the alcohol from burning off.

Transfer the mixture to a punch bowl. Pour the punch into a heat-proof punch bowl that can hold about 3 quarts (3 L) of liquid. The punch shouldn’t be too hot, but you don’t want to shatter a glass bowl or melt a thin plastic one. If you don’t have a heat-proof punch bowl, you can also serve the punch in a Dutch oven or a ceramic baking dish. To keep the punch warm while your guests are enjoying it, you can serve the punch in the saucepan and keep the heat on low, or serve the punch in a crockpot set to Keep Warm.

Garnish and serve. When you're ready to serve your punch, stir in the fresh cranberries for garnish. Wash the orange under running water and scrub the rind with a vegetable brush. Pat the orange dry and slice it into disks. Add the slices to the punch, along with the fresh mint leaves before serving.

Making Hard Cider and White Wine Punch

Make a simple syrup. Place the water into a small saucepan and heat it over medium-low heat. When the water is hot, but not boiling, add the sugar. Stir and heat the mixture until the sugar is fully dissolved. When you have a clear syrup, remove the pan from the heat and set the mixture aside to cool completely. You can make any quantity of simple syrup using this method. Always use equal parts sugar and water.

Make the punch. In a punch bowl that holds about 2 quarts (2 L), combine the hard apple cider, vodka, peach juice, white wine, lemon juice, and cooled simple syrup. Stir to combine all the ingredients, and add 10 to 20 ice cubes to the bowl to chill the punch. You can use any fruit cider you like to make this punch, including peach, ginger apple, or pear.

Wash and cut the fruit. Wash the lemon, peach, and strawberries under running water. Set the lemon and peach aside to dry. Transfer the strawberries to a clean towel, and carefully remove the stems with a knife. Slice the strawberries into thin slivers, and cut the lemon into thin disks. Cut the peach in half and remove the pit from the center. Then slice the peach halves into thin wedges.

Garnish the punch before serving. Transfer the strawberry slices, lemon disks, and peach wedges to the punch bowl. Stir the mixture to incorporate the fruit into the liquid. Use a ladle to dole out servings into small cups or punch glasses.

Making a Pomegranate Sangria

Make the sangria base. In a pitcher that holds about 2 quarts (2 L), combine the vodka, pomegranate and red grapefruit juice, and the red wine. Stir the mixture to combine all the ingredients. To change the flavor slightly, you can use pomegranate blends as well, such as blueberry-pomegranate or cranberry-pomegranate. The best wines for sangria include garnacha, tempranillo, zinfandel, and bonarda, but you can also use cabernet sauvignon or merlot.

Add the fruit. Transfer the frozen cherries and strawberries to the pitcher with the sangria. You can add any frozen fruit you like to the punch, including blueberries, blackberries, apples, or raspberries. It’s important to use frozen fruit, however, because this recipe doesn’t rely on ice to chill the sangria.

Serve the sangria on the rocks. The sangria is ready to serve as soon as you stir in the frozen fruit. Fill each serving glass with several ice cubes and pour the sangria into the individual glasses. Use a spoon if necessary to make sure that each glass gets some frozen fruit.