Tags
christmas, fruit juice, fruit punch, holiday, hot drink, kinderpunsch, mulled wine, seasonal, sugar, tea
I don’t really drink. Putting my festive lashmina on won’t be my primary concern during the holiday season. Instead, I’m often the person who takes care of soused friends at parties. This is not because I am a warm and nurturing person: it’s simply because I will usually be sober and it’s all part of the seasonal fun – I can helpfully (or mortifyingly) remind my friends the next morning about what they actually did the night before.
For those who do drink alcohol, I have heard that mulled wine is the subject of strong opinions. Some regard it as quintessentially Christmassy; others loathe it. If you, for whatever reason, take exception to mulled wine but still perhaps want something warm and spiced, you might try this punch. It’s inspired by something I had at the German Christmas market at Southbank a couple of years ago. Google told me that the drink was probably Kinderpunsch, but the actual recipes I saw involved a lot of lemons and apple juice. I couldn’t get my head around the idea that those ingredients would produce the same hot drink I had: it was spicy, sugary, dark and interesting. I was quite sure it had grape juice in it, but wasn’t so certain about the other ingredients.
I wish I could say that I then embarked on a huge culinary journey to discover the perfect recipe which culminated in a true Proustian moment when I finally recreated the taste I’d been looking for, but in actuality I’ve settled for making a mixture of tea, fruit juices, and spices. But putting it like that makes it seem like it’s a paltry substitute, like I’ve just said, ‘Sod it, that’ll do.’ It’s warm and aromatic, can be adjusted to your taste, and tastes suitably Christmassy.
(If you substitute all the liquid for red wine, I’m sure you could then make it into mulled wine, but I can’t comment on the chances of success.)
CHRISTMAS SPICED FRUIT PUNCH (via Roots, Wings, and Other Things)
Originally posted, in slightly shorter form, on MouthLondon.
Makes about 1.5 litres (about 6 US cups)
- Ingredients
- 750ml water
- 3 bags any kind of berry flavoured tea
- 250ml grape juice
- 250ml cranberry juice
- 250ml orange juice (I squeezed this from 2 large oranges)
- 6 whole cloves, or ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick, or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 – 5 tablespoons caster sugar
Instructions
1. Bring the water to the boil in a large saucepan. Immediately turn off the heat, add the tea bags, and leave to steep for 4 minutes. You should have a deep purple-pink tea. Fish out and discard the tea bags.
2. Put the saucepan back on the heat, this time medium-low – you want to keep the liquid steamy hot and gently simmering, but never boiling. Add all the fruit juices and spices, stir to combine. Leave everything to simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the sugar a spoonful at a time to the hot liquid, tasting as you go and stirring to ensure it dissolves completely. Alternatively, leave it unsweetened and let each person sweeten their own mug to taste.
4. Strain through a sieve and serve hot. Keep in the fridge.
