by Holly
Make any celebration one to remember when this Party Punch is served!
Cranberry cocktail and ginger ale are mixed with tart grapefruit juice and sweet orange juice, add a little club soda and it’s ready to go. This simple party punch recipe does double duty as a festive Christmas drink or a sultry summer libation and all the days in between.
A Favorite Party Punch Recipe
This is my husband’s punch recipe and it can be found at every family gathering from Easter brunch to Christmas dinner. Ken has made this punch since before we even met and everyone loves it!
- This punch mixture has the best of everything – some sweetness, some tartness, and a little bit of bubbliness – all of this will make this punch the life of the party.
- This recipe is kid-friendly, but it can be spiked if you’d like!
- A party just wouldn’t be a party without a punch. Make this in a large ice-filled punch bowl, with a large ladle, and let everyone serve themselves.
Ingredients & Variations
CRANBERRY JUICE COCKTAIL Choose the cocktail over regular cranberry juice because it is sweetened. It’s crisp and tart making it the best base for this fun beverage!
JUICE Grapefruit juice gives this punch a bright, citrusy flavor, but if it’s not available, a can of frozen pink lemonade or limeade will do in a pinch!
ALCOHOL Totally optional spirits like vodka, white rum, or gin can be added as desired. For a brunch (think bridal shower, etc), sparkling wine, champagne, or sparkling cider are excellent choices!
Garnish
Great for birthday parties and baby showers, party punch needs to look party perfect! We love to freeze fruits in ice cubes (or in the bottom of a bundt pan to make an ice ring) for a pretty garnish!
Depending on the occasion, we like to add colorful garnishes: slices of orange, lemon slices, lime, kiwi, or strawberries, sprigs of mint or basil. For the holidays, float some star anise pods or cinnamon sticks over the top of the punch.
Turn it into a sherbet punch with a few scoops of your favorite flavor!
Variations
Punch is versatile, so play with the ingredients to make it your own!
- Swap out the grapefruit juice for pineapple juice to give it a tropical taste.
- Gingerale can be replaced with lemon-lime soda, sprite or 7-up .
- If you’d prefer the punch to be less sweet, leave out the ginger ale and add extra club soda.
How to Make Party Punch
- Combine all of the ingredients in a punch bowl (as per the recipe below).
- Add ice and garnish as desired.
- Serve.
Tips
- Make this easy party punch in advance and refrigerate, so it’s extra chilled before serving.
- If making ahead, don’t put the bubbles (ginger ale or club soda) in the punch until serving.
- Punch can be spiked with alcohol if desired (we like vodka or rum). If you’d prefer, fill a glass 1/2 way with punch and top it with sparkling wine or prosecco.
- This recipe makes a large batch of punch. You can change the servings on the print page of this recipe.
- Pour some of the punch into ice cube trays to use as ice cubes without watering down the punch.
- For pretty ice cubes, freeze them with fruit in them.
More Punch Recipes
- Frosty Patriotic Punch – a 4th of July drink!
- Champagne Punch – pretty and delicious
- Celebration Punch – the drink is dolled for the party!
- Trick or Treat Halloween Punch – they will love the colors
Did you enjoy this party punch recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Party Punch
Prep Time 5 minutes
Servings 16 cups
Ingredients
- 1 liter cranberry cocktail
- 1 liter gingerale
- ½ liter unsweetened grapefruit juice
- ½ liter orange juice
- 1-2 liters club soda to taste
- ice
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Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except the club soda in a large punch bowl.
- Taste and add club soda to reach desired flavor.
- Add ice and serve.
- Garnish with oranges, cranberries, or fruit as desired.
Recipe Notes
- Make party punch ahead of time and refrigerate, so it’s extra chilled before serving.
- If making ahead, don't put the bubbles (ginger ale or club soda) in the punch until serving.
- Punch can be spiked with alcohol if desired (we like vodka or rum). If you'd prefer, skip the club soda and fill a glass 1/2 way with the punch and top it with sparkling wine or prosecco.
- Change any of the juices or add more or less to your liking.
- This recipe makes a large batch of punch. You can change the servings on the print page of this recipe.
- Pour some of the punch or juices into ice cube trays and freeze. This will keep from watering down the punch.
For pretty ice cubes, freeze them with fruit in them.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
how many does this serve? I didn’t see it indicated
This is about 16 servings.
Really nice apple juice, it is winter now, I think I would make this when it is summer. Just bookmark it. Thank you.
I would love to make this for an upcoming New Years party, especially because I want to provide both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions of a punch. I do need clarification, though. For the “sparkling drink”, does that mean a sparkling wine such as Asti Spumante? And for the lemon lime soda , what size bottles?
The soda was a 2L size, you can use a little bit more or less depending on personal taste. And yes, any sparkling wine such as Asti Spumante would work perfectly! Enjoy!
This would be great for Valentine’s Day celebration!