9 Delicious Punch Recipes By Adults, For Adults

In our youth, we can all remember going to parties where we had “the punch” and swore off the devil’s brew for good because of the heinous hangover. However, that “punch” was likely some sort of haphazardly thrown together concoction of ingredients like Everclear, vodka Sprite, orange juice, champagne, wine, or all of the above.

As professional bartenders will tell you, creating a punch is an art form that requires just as much skill as crafting a single-serve cocktail. If you’re considering offering a punch at your next gathering, putting in the extra effort tracking down quality ingredients and making the mixture from scratch will earn you much gratitude from your guests. We’ve tracked down nine delicious punch recipes from industry pros and spirit brands to ensure your guests won’t avoid your punch or subsequent parties like the plague. Stick around, at the end we have more tips, tricks, and advice from professionals about curating these easy drink recipes.

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• Best Summer Cocktails to Try
• Best Big Batch Cocktails
• Best Citrus Cocktails

The Collector

(By Platform 18)

This classy punch will serve as both a beautiful centerpiece for your gathering and a delicious conversation starter. The sweetness of the Luxardo Maraschino, strawberry syrup, and strawberry-infused gin balances perfectly with the herbaceousness of the Galliano Authentico. The lemon and champagne give it a perfect finish of dry, tartness.

Ingredients

• 375 milliliter bottle of Pierre-Jouët Brut Champagne
• 3 ounce Strawberry-infused Bulldog Gin
• 1 ounce Alessio Chinato
• 1 ounce Galliano Authentico
• 1 ounce Luxardo Maraschino
• 2 ounce Strawberry Syrup
• 3 ounce Lemon Juice

Method

1. Build all ingredients into a punch bowl.
2. Top with champagne and serve over a large ice cube.
3. Garnish with 5 strawberries and rose pedals.

Give Me All Your Lovin’

(By Eden Laurin, The Violet Hour)

If you love fruit-forward cocktails, you’ll definitely be lovin’ this punch. The lemon, grapefruit, and persimmon flavors combined with the Aperol mix perfectly with the vodka. It will be so good you may need to monitor your guest’s consumption unless you want them wearing the bowl for a hat after a while.

Ingredients

• 3 cups vodka (Laurin prefers Modest Vodka)
• 2.25 cups Aperol 
• 2.25 cups fruit liqueur (Laurin prefers Apologue Persimmon Bittersweet Liqueur)
• 3 cups grapefruit juice
• 1.5 cups lemon juice
• 1.5 cups simple syrup

Method

1.  Add ingredients to punch bowl and stir to combine. Serve with ice.

Market Punch

(By Mattie’s At Green Pastures)

This punch comes from Austin staple, Matties, and is packed full of flavor — just like their food. Fresh rosemary, ginger, and grapefruit juice give the punch a bright, crisp flavor, while the Earl Grey tea combined with gin and sparkling water make it smooth and drinkable.

Ingredients

For the Punch

• 16 ounce London dry gin
• 32 ounce Punch mix*
• 8 ounce lemon juice
• 4 ounce cold sparkling water
• Rosemary sprigs, grapefruit half-wheels, lemon wheels for garnish

For the Punch Mix

• 18 ounce filtered water
• 2 large sprigs of rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1.5 ounce by volume dry, loose Earl Grey tea
• 10 ounce white sugar
• 2 ounce ginger juice (fresh ginger root, juiced)
• 14 ounce grapefruit juice (roughly 3-4 grapefruits)

Method

For the Punch Mix

1. Heat water to just below a boil.
2. Remove from heat and add Earl Grey and rosemary, stirring occasionally.
3. Allow to steep for 10 minutes and then strain off solids.
4. Slowly mix in all sugar. Gently heat the liquid again if the sugar is not dissolving.
5. After the sugar has fully dissolved in the tea, allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.
6. Add in grapefruit and ginger juice. Stir to integrate. Lasts 10 days if refrigerated.

For the Punch

1. Add all ingredients to the punch bowl and stir to combine.
2. Chill with ice before serving.

Beautiful Chaos

(By Camille Cavan, Quaintrelle)

The name says it all about this punch from one of Portland’s favorite craft cocktail bars, Quaintrelle. There’s a lot going on in this punch, but the preparation will be worth it because there will be a lot going on in your mouth. This punch touches on all five flavor profiles and then some.

Ingredients

For the Punch

• 1.5 cups of blanco tequila (Cavan prefers Altos Tequila)
• .5 cup of mezcal (Cavan prefers Sombra Mezcal)
• .25 cup Campari
• .25 cup ginger liqueur (Cavan prefers New Deal Ginger Liqueur)
• 1.5 cups of fresh lime juice
• 1.5 cup of pink peppercorn syrup*
• 12 drops of Scrappy’s Firewater tincture 
• 1 c of ice (left in punch to dilute)

For the Pink Peppercorn Syrup

• Pink peppercorns
• Simple syrup

Method

For the Pink Peppercorn Syrup

1. Crush pink peppercorns.
2. Add to simple syrup in a 2:1 ratio (2 parts simple syrup to 1 part peppercorns).
3. Cover and let sit overnight. Add to punch without straining out the peppercorns.

For the Punch

1. Add ingredients to punch bowl and stir to combine.
2. Garnish with pink peppercorns, flowers, cherries, and lime wheels before serving.

Tanteo Cranberry Punch

(By Tanteo)

If you need to whip an easy yet delicious and beautiful punch in a jiffy, this cranberry punch from Tanteo Tequilla is perfect. Only four ingredients for a fresh and fun punch.

Ingredients

• 20 ounces Tanteo Jalapeño Tequila
• 20 ounces 100% Cranberry Juice (No sugar added)
• 10 ounces Fresh Lime Juice
• 7.5 ounces Agave Nectar

Method

1. Top with lime slices, fresh cranberries, and jalapeños.

Passion of Barbados

(By David Bouchard, Death or Glory)

For a tropical twist on your party punch, the Passion of Barbados will have you hearing steel drums and crashing waves.  If you’ve never heard of falernum, you wouldn’t be the first. It’s a Caribbean syrup liqueur that is a key component in many tropical cocktails. You can make your own or find pre-made mixes.

Ingredients

• 5 ounces Jamaican rum (Bouchard prefers Smith & Cross)
• 5 ounces Barbadian rum (Bouchard prefers Plantation 5 Year)
• 1.25 ounces falernum 
• 3.5 ounces lemon juice
• 2.5 ounces grapefruit juice
• 2.5 ounces honey
• 2.5 ounces passion fruit juice
• 1.25 oz vanilla allspice 
• Lemon wheels for garnish

Method

1. Add all ingredients to the punch bowl and stir to combine.
2. Chill with ice before serving.

Babe Frose

(By Babe Rosé)

If you thought you get through this list without seeing a punch recipe that included one of the trendiest summer beverages, you’d be wrong. Whatever your stance on rosé is, this refreshing and easy-to-make punch from our friends at Babe Rosé will be a hit at your next gathering.

Ingredients (4-6 Servings)

For Frose

• 4 Cans of BABE Rosé or BABE 100 Rosé
• 1/4 Cup Vodka
• 4 teaspoons Strawberry Simple Syrup

For Strawberry Simple Syrup

• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Cup Finely Chopped Strawberries

Method

For the Frose

1. Pour the Babe Rosé into a gallon ziplock bag set inside a dish then freeze overnight (don’t be concerned if it’s a little slushy.)
2. Add the frozen BABE Rosé, vodka, and strawberry simple syrup to a blender then blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

For the Simple Syrup

1. Combine water and sugar in a bowl and microwave until boiling, about 1 ½ minutes.
2. Stir until sugar dissolves.
3. Add the chopped strawberries and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
4. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl then discard strawberry pieces.

Singapore Smash Punch

(By Bar Manager Jiayu Liu, Cassia)

This versatile punch can be made more seasonal simply by switching mezcal for whiskey. The Smash Syrup in this punch is refreshingly good with Mezcal in the summer months. In winter, whiskey brings out its warm spice notes. The syrup can be made in advance and lasts a long time in the fridge.

Ingredients

For Punch

• 8 parts Mezcal or Whiskey
• 3 parts Smash Syrup
• 3 parts Lemon Juice
• 1 part Pineapple Juice
• Lemon wheels for garnish

For the Smash Syrup

• 5 cups water
• 5 cups sugar
• 1 cup dried hibiscus
• 5 whole cloves
• 4 whole star anise
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 2-inch piece of ginger, sliced

Method

For Smash Syrup

1. Bring all the ingredients to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Strain and let cool.

For Punch

1. Add all ingredients into a large punch bowl filled with ice and stir.
2. Garnish with lemon wheels.

Proper Summer Punch

(By Proper Twelve Whiskey)

Although this punch from Proper Twelve Whiskey has summer in the title, it’s delicious year-round. For a large group just double the ingredients and enjoy.

Ingredients

• 375 milliliter Bottle of Proper No. Twelve
• 3/4 cup Lemonade
• 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Red Wine
• 3/4 cup Seltzer
• 2 Lemons, sliced into wheels
• Mint Leaves

Method

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Shake or stir and serve!

Punch Tips, Tricks, and Advice From the Pros

Revamp an existing cocktail for a big group by swapping ounces for cups.

Most bartenders and mixologists design their cocktail recipes for single servings. However, if there’s a cocktail that you particularly enjoy, you can often adjust it to serve a larger group by changing the way in which you measure ingredients.

For example, managing partner Eden Laurin of The Violet Hour in Chicago, Illinois advises replacing the ounce measurements popularly used in cocktail recipes for cup measurements. This quantity shift will maintain the proportions crucial to the cocktail while at the same time reformatting it to serve more guests. 

Try an “active batch” cocktail rather than a “passive batch” version. 

General manager and head bartender Jeremy Allen of MiniBar Hollywood in Los Angeles, California says that, when making punches, “you can either make an ‘passive batch,’ which has the alcohol mixed in and is ready to drink, or an ‘active batch’ that is just the mixer and can be shaken with ice and [spirits] to order.” While the “passive batch” incarnation is more common at house parties (and certainly more common at college fêtes), the “active batch” spin on a bulk cocktail can result in fresher-tasting beverages and can allow for more customization.

“One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.” 

When offering punch-related advice to newbies, founder Will Duncan of Punch House in Chicago quotes the following maxim: “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak. A dash of bitters and a sprinkle of spice, serve well chilled with plenty of ice.” 

“If you stick with this traditional punch-making rhyme, you are sure to create an expertly balanced cocktail that your guests will truly enjoy,” Duncan tells us.

Be cautious about the ingredients you use to “dilute” the punch. 

“Don’t underestimate the ‘weak’ element, as it is really the most important component of the perfect punch. Always use high-quality ingredients,” Duncan insists. Therefore, it’s crucial to take a judicious approach to selecting the non-alcoholic elements in your large-format libation. 

“[When it comes to diluting a punch] a frat party, I imagine this would [involve] something like a two-liter bottle of 7-Up and or orange juice added to the top of the punch bowl.

“[In order to refine the punch] a bit, [you want to] control the sugar content. I would suggest using a brewed tea. Black tea and Earl Grey have historically been the most successful [teas to use in punches], but chamomile and chai have worked for me as well. Kombucha is also a really great application for this, as the sugar content is usually really low and it is effervescent, which contributes to a pleasant drinking experience,” advises bar manager Rob McShea of Miss B’s Coconut Club in San Diego, California. 

Use high-quality spirits whenever possible. 

“To create the antithesis of those dangerously potent jungle juice punch cocktails that taste like poison, you’ll want to include quality spirits in your punch – avoid the bottom shelf alcohols,” beverage director Rael Petit of The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, New York tells The Manual. Shelling out a few extra bucks for a smooth and well-crafted bottle will result in a balanced punch with a lower likelihood of causing horrifying hangovers. 

Don’t skimp on the ice.

If you want to set your large-format drink apart, take care to keep the ice plentiful and regularly restocked.

Pay attention to the presentation.

While a big plastic bowl and a stack of Solo cups fit collegiate standards of punch presentation, an adult take on this beverage deserves a more artful display. 

“Batched cocktails are all about the presentation, giving you the perfect opportunity to use those family heirlooms that have been collecting dust in your attic all year. At Punch House, the punches are presented in mismatched vintage glassware, sourced from antique dealers across the country. Hit up your local thrift shop for a punch bowl and teacups to match. Remember that the smaller cups look the most fun and festive and allow for guests to enjoy smaller portions, allowing your punch to stretch a long way,” recommends Duncan.