For a New Year’s cup of cheer, try these festive punch recipes

By this time of year, I would have made at least five batches of celebratory punch for the holidays. I would have madeone or two for various office parties, still more for get-togethers with friends. The kitchen would warm with the scent of pears and lemons roasting with spices. My car would smell vaguely of layered citrus fruits from small mishaps of transport as I move batches around the area: to friends’ houses, to the office cafeteria, to family celebrations.

Instead, my car is the vehicular equivalent of couch-locked, and smells like nothing much at all. I know because sometimes I go sit in it and engage in intense fantasies of going somewhere other than the grocery store.

The loss of my annual season of punch-sharing is meaningless, less than trivial, in the context of a pandemic in which we’ve lost more than 1.5 million people, meaningless next to the suffering caused by vast unemployment and financial hardship that have accompanied that pandemic. That so many of us have striven to protect each other by giving up nearly a year of togetherness is right and good, but it should be recognized as a sacrifice.

But I’ve still found myself wanting to indulge in punch-making, almost as a gesture of hope. A bowl properly proportioned for one can’t replicate the joy of making, say, a full Chatham Artillery Punch, where part of the pleasure is watching guests’ eyes grow large with alarm as you prepare the drink before their eyes, pouring six whole bottles of alcohol into your punchbowl.

But on the plus side, you can still make an event of it, even perhaps over Zoom (if you’re not, at this point, ready to burn Zoom to the ground), by not skimping on the aspects of punch that make it feel more festive.

This New Year’s, I’ll be celebrating small but toasting to the big day that I hope is in our future: When I can go to one of my beloved bars, find it thriving, take a sip of a drink, then nudge the friend next to me to say “This is delicious — try it!” and casually, carelessly hand over my glass.

Get small. One of my favorite things about making a fancy party punch is garnishing the bowl, scattering the surface with citrus wheels and spices and herbs so that it’s a visual treat as well. You can do the same even if you’re the only one drinking, but you may need to downscale the size of the garnishes, as a lemon wheel or two will cover the whole surface of the drink. Such spices as allspice berries, star anise, juniper, and peppercorn will still work fine, as will small sprigs of herbs, but you may want to think about berries, pomegranate seeds, grapes, and smaller citrus fruits (key limes, clementines, kumquats) for miniature wheels.

Make nice with ice. Remember bars? Weren’t they great? You knew you were at one that really cared about details when you got a drink containing one of those hand-chiseled, perfectly sized for the glass, crystal-clear ice cubes. The ice for these is typically made in a sizable machine called a Clinebell, but there are clear-ice molds that’ll work in home freezers. Check out TrueCube, Glacio, Ticent, or Rabbit brands (and make sure you’re getting the right dimension and variety; some larger molds just produce bigger cloudy ice).

1-2 servings

This bright and festive punch-format cocktail is sized for one or two people, depending on how thirsty they are.

You can make this cocktail nonalcoholic by omitting the gin and dry curaçao, increasing the pomegranate juice to 6 ounces, adding an ounce of simple syrup, and replacing the dry sparkling wine with soda or tonic water. Since most bitters are alcoholic, if you want to avoid even those few drops of booze but desire an orangey note, strip a large swath of orange peel and express the oils over the punch and drop it into the bowl, as well.

INGREDIENTS

Ice (preferably 1 to 2 large cubes)

4 ounces pomegranate juice

¾ ounce fresh lemon juice

2 ounces gin

1 ounce dry curaçao

3 dashes orange bitters

2 ounces chilled sparkling brut-style white wine

Lemon/kumquat wheels, pomegranate seeds, rosemary sprig, and/or grating of nutmeg, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the ice cubes in a serving bowl and set aside.

In a mixing glass, combine the pomegranate and lemon juices, gin, curaçao, and bitters, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture over the ice in the bowl, then top with the chilled sparkling wine. Arrange your garnishes on the surface of the drink, if using, and serve.

Nutrition (based on 2 servings) | Calories: 153; Total Fat: 0 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 1 mg; Total Carbohydrates: 13 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 11 g; Protein: 0 g.

— M. Carrie Allan

1-2 servings

Citrus fruits are often given out as holiday treats. Here, they’re boosted with mezcal and elderflower for a bright and earthy brew.

Where to buy: Fresh tangerine juice can be found at Whole Foods and well-stocked supermarkets.

INGREDIENTS

Ice (preferably 1 to 2 large cubes)

4 ounces fresh tangerine or clementine juice

2 ounces mezcal

¾ ounce St-Germain liqueur

3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

2 to 3 ounces chilled club soda, to taste

Wheels of clementines or tangerines studded with cloves, star anise pod, allspice berries, and/or sage leaves, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the ice cubes in your serving bowl and set aside.

In a mixing glass, combine the juice, mezcal, and bitters, and stir to combine. Pour the mixture over the ice in the bowl, then top with club soda to taste. Arrange your garnishes on the surface of the drink, if using, and serve.

Nutrition (based on 2 servings) | Calories: 127; Total Fat: 0 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 8 mg; Total Carbohydrates: 11 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 10 g; Protein: 1 g.

— M. Carrie Allan

1-2 servings

The rich spices in chai (yes, we know the “tea” in the name is redundant but leaving it out would lose the terrible pun) go beautifully with pears.

We used Mathilde Poire for the liqueur, but you can substitute a ginger liqueur, if you like.

INGREDIENTS

Ice (preferably 1 to 2 large cubes)

2 ounces vodka (or pear-flavored vodka)

1 ½ ounces chilled chai

½ ounce fresh lemon juice

2 ounces pear nectar

1 ounce pear liqueur, such as Mathilde Poire

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 ounces chilled ginger ale

Wheels of lemon or pear, rosemary sprig, and/or sprinkle of grated nutmeg, and/or ground cinnamon, for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Place the ice cubes in your serving bowl and set aside.

In a mixing glass, combine the vodka, chai, lemon, pear nectar, liqueur, and bitters, and stir to mix together. Pour the mixture over the ice in the bowl, then top with the chilled ginger ale. Arrange your garnishes on the surface of the drink, if using, and serve.

Nutritional (based on 2 servings) | Calories: 138; Total Fat: 0 g; Saturated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 4 mg; Total Carbohydrates: 11 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 5 g; Protein: 0 g.

— M. Carrie Allan