Since it was the first weekend of the quarter we, naturally, had a progressive in our co-op to get to know our new housemates and catch up with old ones. The theme this time was “Decades” meaning that each room had to represent a different decade. My roommate and I decided to be the 1920's because we could dress like flappers and play classy music. I also happened to have a flapper sort of dress and wanted to wear it, so we settled on that. Seeing as it was a classy sort of era (aside from the bathtub gin and probably grimy speakeasies) we decided on a glamorous drink that was probably totally wrong for the age, Champagne Punch.
Regardless, the drink was still really good and we got tons of compliments on its deliciousness. My roommate and I now think it will be our go to drink for any party. The other great thing about it is that although it requires a lot of ingredients, it makes a lot of punch, and it can be made with cheap ingredients (cheap champagne, cheap pineapple juice, cheap chambord, on sale ginger ale, etc) and it still tastes really good! But, if you want it to be super classy, you can use all the expensive versions of the ingredients it calls for. It really is a very versatile and tasty drink. One final note, the color is, well, probably not the most appetizing, so if it's worrysome to you, try adding a couple drops of red food coloring and you should have a nice punch color. I think I'll try that next time...
Champagne Punch (lightly adapted from Gourmet)
Ingredients:
1 cup Triple Sec
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup Chambord (raspberry liquor)
2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1 quart chilled ginger ale
2 chilled 750-ml. bottles dry champagne
Directions:
1) In a bowl combine the Triple Sec, the brandy, the Chambord and the pineapple juice and chill the mixture, covered, for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2) In a large punch bowl combine the Triple Sec mixture, the ginger ale, and the champagne and mix.
3) Serve over ice in classy glasses and enjoy!
