Christmas Punch is a festive sparkling beverage featuring champagne, pomegranate juice, and cranberry juice. It's easy to make, pretty to serve, and perfect for holiday parties!
2cupslemon-lime sodachilled, PLUS EXTRA for ice cubes
2(750 mL) bottles champagne, prosecco, or sparkling winechilled
Cranberries, pomegranate arils, & sprigs of rosemaryfor ice cubes and garnish
Corn syrup & coarse sparkling sugarfor rims of glasses (optional)
Instructions
To make ice cubes, fill small bowls/containers with fresh cranberries, pomegranate arils, and sprigs of rosemary. Pour lemon-lime soda to the top of each container. Freeze until solid.
Just before serving, place the ice cubes in a large pitcher, punch bowl, or drink dispenser. Pour the pomegranate juice, cranberry juice, and lime juice on top. Add the lemon-lime soda and champagne and stir gently to combine. Serve in glasses garnished with additional cranberries, pomegranate arils, and rosemary sprigs.
Notes
The volume of this recipe is approximately 100 ounces (plus ice), so make sure that your pitcher/punch bowl/drink dispenser is the correct size before commencing with the recipe.
Since pure, unsweetened cranberry juice is very, very tart, I recommend using a combination of 100% juice (such as cranberry plus apple plus grape) with no added sugar. Alternatively, you could use a cranberry juice blend (such as cran-cherry or cran-pomegranate, etc.).
Feel free to swap ginger ale for the lemon-lime soda. Or if you prefer a less sweet punch, use seltzer in place of (part or all of) the soda.
I recommend making this recipe with dry (brut) champagne, prosecco, or sparkling wine. A sweeter option will work as well for a sweeter punch.
For a NON-ALCOHOLIC Christmas Punch, swap out the champagne for 3 cups of seltzer plus 3 cups of lemon-lime soda, ginger ale, or sparkling grape juice. Or you can adjust the ratio of seltzer/soda/juice to your taste.