The Can't-Fail Formula For Delicious Holiday Punch

When agreeing to host a holiday party or family celebration, you put a ton of weight on your back. You volunteer to spend an entire day, or multiple days, taking dishes in and out of the oven, decorating your place, and maintaining a spick and spam hosting space all the while. The last thing most think about when hosting for the holidays is the beverages — but it shouldn't be. While you can go the simple route with a case of wine, a holiday-themed beverage is the perfect conduit for easy yet festive flavors while amplifying the seasonal cheer. But there's no need to bend over backward for individually made cocktails for each guest. A holiday punch is a quick and easy way to yield a large amount of delicious quaff. To find the perfect holiday punch recipe, we reached out to Natalie Migliarini, founder of Beautiful Booze, author, and social media influencer.

"I have a recipe formula that I stick to which includes a spirit of choice, syrup of choice, lemon or lime juice, seasonal juice, and sparkling wine," Migliarini told The Takeout. "This is where you can get creative as you can add a fun holiday syrup like spiced cinnamon or ginger to make it festive. Then add cranberry juice or pomegranate juice to give it a festive color." 

Migliarini said adding the non-carbonated ingredients before your guests arrive will ease the set-up process. To ensure the punch is fresh and cold for your party, add ice and top it off with sparkling wine right as the party begins. "Also, don't forget to add fun garnishes like rosemary, cranberries, and citrus slices."

Migliarini said she prepares around 5 ounces of holiday punch for each guest. A standard single drink is around 5 ounces, so alter the amount of punch you make to the amount of glasses you expect each guest to drink. If you or your guests would like a stronger cocktail, you can double down on the alcohol like Ina Garten did in her COVID-era big-batch Cosmo cocktail.

While Migliarini suggested pouring and mixing in a red-colored fruit juice, a classic punch is equally suitable for any holiday party. Traditional party punch usually includes pineapple juice and orange juice, which will give the beverage more of a tropical citrus feel.

You can also garnish your holiday punch with a beautiful ice ring. Ice cubes frozen with cranberries and rosemary have increased in popularity over the past few holiday seasons — people have served bubbly cocktails adorned with beautiful ice cubes to amplify the festive look. An ice ring is made by using a large bundt cake pan as the ice mold, to which you can add your garnishes to the ice ring, creating an ornamental and functional addition to your holiday punch.