Make Christmas punch like a pro with this easy recipe by Good Food’s Bar of the Year

Ingredients

• 700ml Bacardi Ocho (or dark rum)

  500ml Pennyweight Tawny Port

  400ml fresh lime juice (strained)

  400ml cold-pressed pineapple juice (choose a nice ripe yellow one)

  1500ml ceylon tea and Christmas spice mix

For the ceylon tea and Christmas spice mix

• 2 cinnamon quills

  1 tbsp cloves

  1 tbsp allspice

  2 star anise

  5 teabags of ceylon tea

  2 litres of water

  500g of caster sugar

Method

For the ceylon tea and Christmas spice mix

1. Step 1
   Add the cinnamon, cloves, allspice and star anise to a pot on medium heat and gently toast the spices until aromatic. Add the 2 litres of water and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.

   Step 2
   Add the Ceylon teabags and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and stir in the caster sugar until dissolved. Put a lid on the pot and let it sit until room temperature before straining. Discard the spices and keep the liquid. This can be done a day or two in advance. Store in the fridge.

For the punch

1. Step 1
   Combine all ingredients into a punch bowl.
   If you have a whisk or hand stick-blender, it’s a nice touch to aerate the liquid (you can continue to do this after you’ve served it, too).

   Step 2

   Add a big block of ice to your punch bowl
   (you can freeze water in any Tupperware container you have handy). The bigger the block, the slower it will melt.

   Step 3
   Garnish with seasonal berries, pineapple and citrus slices.