Gathering around the Christmas punch bowl to enjoy festive holiday cocktails is a highlight of the season. This fruity, bubbly holiday punch is an explosion of flavor and so easy to make, thanks to pomegranate, cranberry, and citrus juices, aromatic orange blossom water, vodka, sparkling wine, and a touch of club soda.
Weather you call it a Christmas punch, holiday punch, or big batch cocktail, this recipe is an enchanting concoction that looks as dazzling as it tastes! And you don't need any elaborate preparations or hard-to-find ingredients.
This is a fairly classic holiday punch recipe with one small twist: a touch of orange blossom water adds a depth of flavor and aromatic quality that will delight and surprise your guests.
If you want to impress your friends and family with a festive holiday punch, this is the recipe for you! Simply mix everything in the punch bowl and throw it in your fridge to chill while you make easy finger foods, like antipasto skewers and the ultimate cheese board.
Table of Contents
What’s in a Sparkling Holiday Punch
This holiday punch balances tart and sweet citrus with a crisp sparkling wine and aromatic orange blossom water. It’s not your average Christmas punch! In my experience, it will inspire your guest to gasp with delight. You’ll need:
- Fruit juice: Cranberry-pomegranate, lime, and orange juice adds a balanced touch of tartness and sweetness along with floral aromas.
- Orange blossom water: Highlights the citrus in the punch and gives a heavenly citrus blossom aroma reminiscent of fresh oranges. Just a touch adds a distinctly Mediterranean flair. Find our favorite all natural orange blossom water from our shop. Or check your local Middle Eastern grocery store. Look for brands that use natural ingredients and avoid any that contain artificial flavors or additives.
- Vodka (optional): Adds a little extra kick to your punch.
- Sparkling wine: The effervescent star of the punch! I like a crisp and refreshing Spanish Cava, but any dry sparkling wine like Prosecco or Crémant would also work.
- Club soda (optional): Adds a stronger fizz and lowers the alcohol content so guests can enjoy more than one beverage.
How to Make a Sparkling Holiday Punch
Punch gives you the most bang for your buck when you’re entertaining for the holidays or any time you’re hosting a large crowd. Very little hands-on time is needed other than slicing and juicing fruit (and fresh bottled juice is always an option), and then just measuring and pouring.
- The night before: make the pomegranate ice (optional). Add the pomegranate seeds from 2 to 3 pomegranates (or a couple of tubs) to a flexible ring mold like what you would use for a bundt cake. Fill with water and freeze until solid. You can also use cranberries in place of the pomegranate seeds if they are more readily available in your area. Make sure to set your bottles of Cava and club soda in the fridge to chill.
- Mix and chill. In a 3 quart punch bowl, pour in 2 cups pomegranate juice, 1 cup orange juice, ½ cup lime juice, 2 tablespoons orange blossom water, and 1 cup of vodka (if using). Stir gently to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the mixture until you are ready to serve, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- Just before serving: add bubbles. When you are ready to serve, pour in the chilled cava and 2 cups of club soda. Stir gently again to mix everything.
- Add ice. In the center of the punch bowl, place the pomegranate ice ring (if using), or large block of ice. Garnish with orange and lime wheels.
- Serve. Set up individual glasses with fruit slices and mint sprigs. Add a ladle to the punch bowl so your guests can help themselves. Cheers!
Variations and Tips
This is a simple Christmas punch recipe you can tweak based on the party, what you have on hand, and how much time and effort you want to put in. Here are some ways to mix it up:
- Make festive pomegranate ice: Consider freezing the seeds into extra large ice cube trays for your guests to add to their glasses.
- Up the pomegranate: For a more intense pomegranate flavor, add in 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses, either store bought or homemade. Just know it will darken the color of the punch.
- Get the perfect size holiday punch bowl: Too small and you’ll be refilling it, and too big and it will look empty. A 3 quart punch bowl will accommodate all of the liquid ingredients plus an ice ring and garnishes. If you want to double the recipe, size up to a 2 gallon punch bowl.
What to Serve with a Sparkling Holiday Punch
Punch is meant to be enjoyed while mingling among guests, family, and friends, so your food options to pair with the punch should be in a similar vein. An antipasto platter is a smart option because it gives everyone lots of flavors to try and come back for.
Multiple dips can also pack in the flavor and give guests options to try. Tangy feta complements the fruity fizz of the punch, so give some creamy whipped feta dip or tirokafteri, a spicy feta dip, a try.
How to Make This Sparkling Holiday Punch Non-Alcoholic
You absolutely can make this Christmas punch recipe into a holiday mocktail a few ways so that everyone can enjoy the party:
- Substitute the Cava with a nonalcoholic sparkling wine. There are a lot of great choices on the market now, but I like Rondel’s nonalcoholic Cava and Freixenet’s Sparkling Non-Alcoholic Wine. Both of these have a similar taste to Cava but no alcohol!
- Substitute with a sparkling grape juice like Welch’s or Martinelli’s. The kid’s table will love it!
- Make it light and bubbly instead. Forgo a “wine” replacement and use 2 cups tonic water and 2 cups club soda. The bubbles are necessary to the punch so don’t forget those! Optionally, you may want to add in a ¼-1/3 cup of high quality honey (like our Greek Alfa Honey) to give the punch a little more body.
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Sparkling Holiday Punch
Ingredients
- Seeds from 2 to 3 pomegranates, for ice (optional)
- 2 cups cranberry pomegranate juice
- 1 cup orange juice
- ½ cup lime juice
- 2 tablespoons orange blossom water
- 1 cup vodka (optional)
- 1 (750ml) bottle Cava, chilled
- 2 cups club soda, chilled
- 2 oranges, sliced in ¼-inch rounds
- 2 limes, sliced in ¼-inch rounds
- Sliced fruit and mint sprigs, for garnish
Instructions
- The night before: make the pomegranate ice (optional). Add the pomegranate seeds to a flexible ring mold like what you would use for a bundt cake. Fill with water and freeze overnight. Make sure to set your Cava and club soda in the fridge to chill.
- Mix and chill. In a 3 quart punch bowl, pour in the cranberry pomegranate juice, orange juice, lime juice, orange blossom water, and vodka if using. Stir gently to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the mixture until you are ready to serve, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- Just before serving: add bubbles. When you are ready to serve, pour in the chilled cava and club soda. Stir gently again to mix everything.
- Add ice. In the center of the punch bowl, place the pomegranate ice ring (if using), or large block of ice. Garnish with orange and lime wheels.
- Serve. Set up individual glasses with fruit slices and mint sprigs. Add a ladle to the punch bowl so your guests can help themselves (if you made the ice, you can set the scoop in the center to keep the ladle upright). Cheers!
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Notes
- To make this a nonalcoholic holiday mocktail: Substitute the cava with a nonalcoholic sparkling wine, sparkling grape juice, or 2 cups each of tonic water and club soda.
- Check out our guide How to Cut a Pomegranate for the easiest, cleanest way to cut, seed, and juice fresh pomegranate.
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
Could you use white rum in this recipe in place of the vodka?
That may work, Susan, but it's not something we've tried before so it's hard to comment on the flavor.