Easy Entertaining Ideas: Cocktails for a Crowd

With company coming, you want to put your best entertaining foot forward and enjoy your party at the same time. The best solution? A cocktail or two that serves a crowd and keeps you away from non-stop bartending. Here are a few of our favorite alcoholic punch recipes.

 

Champagne Punch

This bubbly concoction is perfect for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and family milestone celebrations.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 1 6-oz can of frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed)
• 1 ½ cups apple juice
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 2 bottles Champagne
• 3 cups ginger ale
• 1 quart-sized ice block (Fill a quart bowl with water and freeze overnight.)
• Orange slices or strawberries for garnish

Bring sugar and water to boil in a saucepan. Boil for one minute then, remove from heat and let cool.

Combine the lemon, orange, apple, and pineapple juices in a punch bowl and mix well. Stir in the sugar mixture. You can prepare in advance up to this point and freeze until party day.

Add the Champagne and ginger ale just before serving and mix well. Add block of ice and garnish.

 

Mulled Wine

Put a holiday twist on sangria by making a mulled wine garnished with red and green fruit. It’s perfect cold or hot (pop the sangria in your slow cooker on the “keep warm” or low setting to keep it warm during a party.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle red wine
• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
• ½ cup orange-flavored liqueur
• ½ cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 strip orange peel
• 2 green apples

Put the wine, cranberry juice, cranberries, orange liqueur, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, and orange peel in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring, 5 minutes or until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat; set aside 15 minutes.

Stir the apples into the mulled wine. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve chilled.

 

Apple Punch

Spiced cider is a cold-weather favorite. Take this staple crowd-pleaser up a notch with rye whiskey and ginger beer.

Ingredients

• 8 cups apple cider
• 3 cans (about 36 oz) of dry hard cider
• 750 ml ginger beer
• 750 ml rye whiskey
• 4 oz lemon juice
• Several dashes of orange or blood orange bitters
• 1 orange sliced into rounds
• 2 apples thinly sliced for garnish
• 20 cinnamon sticks for garnish

Combine cider, ginger beer, whiskey, lemon juice, and bitters in a large bowl or pitcher. Garnish with an orange sliced into rounds, thinly sliced apples and, cinnamon sticks. Ladle into ice-filled glasses.

 

Canadian Punch

This popular elixir has been around for centuries with good reason; it’s almost guaranteed to turn a group of acquaintances into a party of chums.

Ingredients

• 16 oz Rye whiskey
• 8 oz Jamaica Rum
• 3 Lemons, sliced thinly
• Half a pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into half-inch rings
• ¾ cup sugar
• 5 cups water
• 1 quart-sized ice block
• Nutmeg

Combine the whiskey, rum, lemon and pineapple in a punch bowl and let stand for at least 3 hours (overnight is best). Dissolve the sugar in the water and stir into the whiskey mixture. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. To serve, slide the ice block into the bowl and grate about a quarter of a whole nutmeg over the top.

 

Holiday Breakfast Punch

Forgo the expected breakfast Bloody Marys and jazz up a Christmas brunch instead with this morning pick-me-up punch.

Ingredients

• 8 lemons, peeled
• 18 oz sugar
• 16 oz strong hot black tea
• 1.5 liters gin
• 250 ml Jamaican rum
• 4 oz apricot brandy
• 26 ounces fresh lemon juice
• 3 liters soda water, chilled

Muddle lemons and sugar together and let sit for an hour. Add the black tea and stir until sugar dissolves. Add gin, rum, and brandy, then lemon juice, soda and finish with grated nutmeg. Keep chilled with a block of ice and garnish with lemon wheels.

 

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