This Pear and Ginger Punch recipe is a delicious change from traditional mulled wine, Swedish Glögg, and other red wine-based punches.
You drink it hot, and it calls for some of our favorite winter spices. Yet, due to the white wine base, it's a little lighter, which makes it a perfect fall cocktail.
The best way to prepare the Pear and Ginger Punch is in larger batches, so it's a clever drink to serve to a crowd.
Ingredients of the Pear and Ginger Punch
Making a Pear and Ginger Punch is pretty similar to making regular mulled wine. You heat up the wine in a pot on the stove and infuse it with fruit and spices.
The ingredients you need are white wine, sugar, fresh pears, pear juice, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, and fresh lemons.
White wine for the Pear and Ginger Punch
Your choice of wine will hugely influence how this punch will turn out.
I like to use semi-dry white wine for his fall drink, for instance, a quality Riesling. If you prefer drier drinks, go for a dry white wine, like a dry Chardonnay.
However, I don't recommend using a sweet wine in this Pear and Ginger Punch. Combined with all the spices and the fruit, it can quickly become too sugary.
Also, don't make the mistake of thinking the other ingredients will mask the quality of your wine. They won't. Your autumnal punch will only be as good as your base wine is.
Citrus fruit
For regular mulled wine for the festive season, you would use oranges. However, lemons go a lot better with white wine than oranges do.
And using lemons also brings some freshness to the drink, making it taste less rich and heavy.
Sugar in the Pear and Ginger Punch
This fall cocktail needs sugar to taste right. It helps with extracting the flavors from fruit and spices. And it turns the white wine into an actual punch. You can use either regular caster sugar or brown sugar.
Other Fall Cocktails
If you prefer your fall cocktails chilled and served on ice and a little bit more classic and complex perhaps, then how about a smoky Scotch Old Fashioned?Â
Or, you go for a creamy, rich Pumpkin White Russian? That's also turned into a Halloween Cocktail with just a bit of extra garnish.
For more inspiration, you can check out our autumn cocktail favorites:
- Best Fall Cocktails to make at home
- Our favorite spooky cocktails for Halloween
- Cocktails for your Thanksgiving dinner
Equipment
- 1 sauce pan
- 1 mesh sieve
Ingredients
- 1 liter white wine
- 2 oz caster sugar
- 5 oz pear juice
- 4 cinnamon sticks
- 5 star anise
- 15 - 20 ginger slices - freshly cut
- 2 oz lemon juice - freshly squeezed
- 5 lemon slices
- pear slices for garnish
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a saucepan and put it on the stove on medium heat.1 liter white wine, 2 oz caster sugar, 5 oz pear juice, 4 cinnamon sticks, 5 star anise, 15 - 20 ginger slices, 2 oz lemon juice, 5 lemon slices
- Stir gently until the sugar is fully dissolved. Also, make sure the wine does not start to boil because that will cook the alcohol out.Now let the mixture simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Now let the mixture simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Strain it through a sieve to remove the fruit and spices before filling it into punch glasses.
- Garnish your Pear and Ginger Punch with a slice of fresh pear and star anise - if they're still intact, you can reuse the ones that went into the pot.pear slices for garnish