How to Make Party Punch

How to make party punch for a crowd – Here are my tips and tricks on how to make the best party punch. Create easy party punch recipes the whole family can enjoy.

You’ve got company coming over and all the food is ready, the table is set up, the silverware is set and then you realize, there is nothing to drink but water!!  Which is totally fine and everyone will survive, but you wanted to have something special for your party guests to drink.

I don’t drink alcohol, so I don’t have any of that in my fridge or pantry to serve guests. I’ve been there a time or two, scouring my cupboards for some powdered lemonade mix or something I can throw together to mix up a yummy drink.  I now keep in my pantry or freezer the basic things I need to throw together an easy party punch.  Here are the things you need to know how to make a party punch.

How to Make Party Punch

A party punch base all starts with these simple ingredients:

• combination of juices
• fresh or frozen fruits
• simple syrup
• something carbonated

Bottled or Frozen Juices

I use juice mixes to start my party punch.  I either have a jug of juice in my pantry or a frozen juice concentrate in my freezer.  You really can use any kind of juice that you like.  When I use frozen juice concentrate, I only use 2/3 the amount of water called for on the instructions for mixing it up.  I like a strong party punch base, since it just keeps getting added to and it evens out the taste.  I add my juice to a large pitcher. When you are learning how to make party punch, for the best tasting punch, it’s important to taste as you make it.

To my juice base I like to bump up the flavor with pineapple juice.  I add pineapple juice to almost all my easy party punch recipes.  I keep a case of the 6 oz cans in my pantry all the time.  I add at least 2 cans if not 3 to the base.  It’s usually the one flavor people always seem to wonder about in the punch but can never figure out.  I usually add a couple tablespoons of lemon juice to the party punch base to bring out the sweetness of the other juices.

Fresh or Frozen Fruit

Fresh or frozen fruit is always a great addition to a party punch.  Sometimes I puree the fruit and add it to the party punch base to increase a certain fruit flavor that I want the party punch to have.  Other times I add fruit to the party punch to make it look pretty.  I will tell you this though, if you are using a pretty drink dispenser with a spout, frozen blueberries may get stuck in the spout and they are hard to get out. 😉

How to Make Party Punch – Taste Testing

At this point, I taste the party punch base to see if it needs anything else.  If it’s not sweet enough, I will add 1/2 cup of simple syrup for some sweetness.  Simple syrup is easy to make.  You put 2 cups of white sugar and 1 cup of water into a small pot on the stove.  Cook it on medium high heat stirring frequently until all the sugar is dissolved.  Making sure not to burn the sugar.  It will look cloudy.  Turn off the heat and either let it cool to room temperature before adding it to your party punch base.  This is the simple syrup I use when I make fresh squeezed lemonade.  It’s really yummy.

Make Ahead Punch Tips

So now that the party punch base is ready, I either put the pitcher in my fridge to chill until party time or I will stick it in a gallon size ziplock bag, remove all the air before sealing it and lay it flat in my freezer.  This is a great idea if you are planning a large party and don’t want to have to be mixing up a bunch of party punch during the party.  Make up a couple batches ahead of time and pull them out of the freezer a few hours before the party.

The Final Ingredient: Carbonation

Once it’s time to serve the party punch, add the party punch base to your pitcher, punch bowl or drink dispenser and then add some fizz!  I like to use either seltzer water of lemon lime soda.  Depending on how sweet the party punch base is, you can determine if you want to add more sweetness with the lemon lime soda.  Ginger ale would be another option to add to give your party punch some fizz.  And if you want to add alcohol to your party punch, you could always do that too.

So now that you know how to make party punch, what kinds of party punch are you going to make?!?!

Need some great party food to serve with your party punch? My friend Julie has some great party appetizer recipes!

Make sure and check out all our easy party punch recipes like Raspberry Crush, which is the best party punch.

Or this Sunshine Berry Spritzer, which is a great brunch party punch recipe.

Happy Mixing!

Liz