Punch... how jolly!

It’s party season and, to my mind, nothing says festive like a big bowl of punch. There is something kind of ancient and jolly about supping from a communal bowl – although we might try to do it with a hint more sophistication these days.

Here are three options for summertime supping that tick both the festive and sophistication boxes.

Rose´ sangria

Sangria is traditionally made with red wine, fruit, orange juice and maybe brandy, and is a very good drink without any alterations. If, however, you are in the mood for something a little lighter in taste, rose´ and elderflower liqueur give this version a sexy twist.

Fruit puree

2 peaches

2 apricots Juice of half a lemon

Sangria

2 x 750ml bottles dry rose´

2 cups elderflower liqueur (we like

St Germain)

10 stone fruit (try a mix of plums, peaches

and nectarines) 1 cup pitted cherries Soda water

Make the puree by peeling the fruit, removing the stones and placing in a blender or food processor with the lemon juice. Whiz until smooth and scrape into a jug.

Add rose´ and liqueur. Chop the fruit and remove the stones. Add to the jug and chill the whole thing for a couple of hours.

To serve, two-thirds fill an ice-filled glass with sangria and top up with soda water.

Punch mixer

For a different and more versatile drink, making up a large amount of a fancy mixer that people can customise themselves is a nice idea. It also means that guests can choose whether to alcohol or not – great for folks who are hapu¯ over the party season!

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

1 cup lemon juice

2 cups peeled and thinly sliced cucumbers

Simmer the water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool and add the lemon juice and cucumbers and chill.

To serve, add to an icefilled glass with gin or vodka and top up with sparkling water (or omit the spirits for a virgin version). Adding some mint to the glass would also be nice.

Rum punch

The traditional Barbadian rum punch recipe is ‘‘one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak’’, being lime juice, sweetener, rum and water in those measures, with a grating of nutmeg on top. The following punch takes it cue from the famous Planter’s Punch invented at the Planter’s House Hotel in Missouri at the beginning of the 20th century.

1 cup dark rum

1 cup light rum

1 cups fresh orange juice 1 cups pineapple juice 1 cups cranberry juice 4 tbsps grenadine

2 cups soda water

Mix altogether in a jug or punch bowl. Serve in an ice-filled glass and garnish with an orange slice.