Punch is a popular alcoholic drink, especially at parties in the summer. The mix of alcohol and fruit juices with delicious fruit is simply wonderfully refreshing. It is a great thing, especially for hosts, because the punch can be prepared in advance and everyone can help themselves at the party.
But which ingredients are used here? Above all: how should the punch stay nice and cool, as it doesn't taste particularly good warm. Here are a few tips for preparing a punch:
Tips for punch
Ingredients and preparation for a punch
Alcoholic beverages are required for a punch. Usually, wine, sparkling wine, gin or vodka are mixed with various fruit juices. Of course, pieces of fruit are also added. You can use frozen fruit or fruit from a jar or can:
Suitable fruits
- Nectarines
- Peaches
- Melon
- Orange
- Apple
- Pineapple
- Cherries
- Berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.)
- Cherries
The fruits are often soaked in advance. Gin, vodka or sparkling wine is used here. But be careful: these fruits pack a punch later on, because the longer they are soaked, the more alcohol they absorb!
Extra tip:For decoration, not only pieces of fruit should be used, but lemon peel or mint, lemon balm, or rosemary are also suitable.
Suitable wines
Choose the wine very carefully, because not every wine is suitable for a punch. In general, it can be said that the more neutral the fruit, the more neutral the wine should be. In addition, it should be sweet rather than dry and in any case add some acidity to the recipe.
Riesling, Pinot Blanc or Silvaner are always a good choice. A Riesling goes perfectly with peach and pineapple, as it tastes a bit like these fruits itself. Aromatic fruits can also handle an aromatic wine, so you can use a Franconian Bacchus with citrus fruits. A Scheurebe or a rosé is recommended for strawberries.
Extra tip:Always add the sparkling wine to the punch just before serving so that the effervescence lasts longer.
Quantity planning for the host
For a punch, you can roughly calculate 0.5 liters of punch per person.
Non-alcoholic variants
If there are a few drivers or children among your guests, they will be happy if you also provide a non-alcoholic version. Here you can conjure up delicious alternatives from fresh juice, syrup and fruit. Instead of sparkling wine, this non-alcoholic punch is simply topped up with carbonated lemonades or mineral water.
Extra tip:If children do not like carbonated drinks, simply use different juices or a syrup as well as pieces of fruit.
Cooling punch without watering it down
To keep the Punch is nice and cool, you often add ice cubes, but that waters down the punch a lot. Next time, simply freeze a little of the punch itself in ice cube trays and add them when the guests arrive. This way, the punch stays nice and cool but doesn't get watered down. Another possibility is to add frozen fruit, which also keeps the punch nice and cool. If you like, you can also buy reusable ice cubes, these also do not water down the punch.
Photo by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
Read also: Recipe for a Lillet Berry cocktail
