Merry Punch
This festive Merry Punch is the perfect boozy cocktail to serve a crowd this holiday season. It’s a little sweet, a little tart, a little bitter, and very boozy. With Aperol and grapefruit, this concoction makes a perfect apertif. This recipe can be scaled to serve as many as you like! Serve this punch at your next family or friendly holiday gathering!
Servings: 20 servings
Ingredients
For the Christmas Punch:
- 3 cups London dry gin
- 3 cups Aperol
- 2 cups freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1 1/2 cups Rosemary grapefruit simple syrup (recipe below)
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2-3 cups Grapefruit soda or seltzer
For the Rosemary Grapefruit Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2 medium grapefruit, peel removed carefully
- 6 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
For the Rosemary Grapefruit Simple Syrup:
- In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to simmer, allowing sugar to dissolve. Remove from heat.
- Carefully remove the peel from the grapefruit. Be sure that as much of the pith (the white part) is removed. Add peel and rosemary sprigs to simple syrup, allowing to steep at least 30 minutes.
- Remove grapefruit peel and rosemary sprigs from simple syrup, and store simple syrup in a glass jar in the refrigerator until ready to use. Simple syrup will keep for up to one week.
For the Christmas Punch:
- In a large beverage dispenser, combine gin, Aperol, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. If possible, ensure all ingredients are properly chilled before combining. Add ice to dispenser, if intending to serve throughout a party and you want it to remain chilled.
- You may add the grapefruit soda or seltzer to the dispenser if you like, or else top off each drink with about 1 ounce as you serve.