Ladles at the ready — these delicious recipes are the perfect way to add pizzazz to your party.If you’re hosting any kind of gathering this Christmas, throw your cocktail shaker away. Or put it in storage at least, because this is not the time to be fiddling around with individually shaken drinks.

What you want to make is a punch. Practical, easy to prepare in advance, convivial to serve and beautiful to look at, the punch is the answer to every harassed host’s prayers. A punch looks splendid served over a single, large ice block — fill an old ice-cream tub with boiling water and freeze the night before. Most of these punches can also be prepped at least partially in advance, then chilled until the appointed hour, when you simply add the soda/prosecco.
Tweak the flavour as you see fit. Do err on the weak side — a punch should be a refreshing session drink, not a bracing stiffener. Proffer the first glass, then urge your guests to help themselves and, just as importantly, each other. Note: All these recipes make about 1.5 litres of punch, or ten 150ml servings. Note: on the sugar syrup: When making punch, it’s always useful to have a bottle of sugar syrup on hand in case the sweetness needs adjusting.

Shotgun iced tea
Make more of the tea infusion and honey syrup than you need, so that you can tweak it to your taste.
Ingredients
430ml bourbon
215ml lemon juice
6 lapsang souchong teabags
800ml cold water
3 inches finely grated or juiced root ginger
200ml honey
Pinch of salt
200ml boiling water
Lemon wheels and cinnamon sticks to garnish
Method
1. First, infuse the teabags in the cold water for an hour or until the desired level of smokiness is achieved.
2. To make the syrup, combine the ginger, honey, a pinch of salt and 200ml boiling water in a jug and leave to cool. Strain before use.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients (bourbon and lemon juice) with the tea and syrup in a punch bowl over a block of ice and garnish with the lemon wheels and cinnamon sticks.

Jasmine tea cooler
I normally make a big bowl of this without booze, so that those wanting vodka can just add a dash to their glass.
Ingredients
1.25l cold-infused jasmine tea (see method)
180ml lemon juice
180ml sugar syrup (To make about 500ml, dissolve 500g sugar in 250ml water over a low heat. Leave to cool, then bottle)
180ml vodka (optional)
Cucumber wheels and mint to garnish
Method
1. Prepare the jasmine tea according to the directions using cold, rather than hot, water and leave to steep in the fridge over night.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl over a block of ice and garnish.

Winter sangria
If you’ve ever enjoyed a sangria, you’ll love this recipe.
Ingredients
0.5 litres red wine
125ml VSOP cognac
125ml lemon juice
125ml spiced sugar syrup (200g sugar, 1 stick cinnamon, 1 star anise, 3 cloves) 250ml cold green tea
125ml pineapple purée
5 dashes Angostura bitters
250ml soda water
Lemon wheels to garnish
Method
1. First, make the sugar syrup. Dissolve 200g sugar in 100ml water over a low heat, add a stick of cinnamon, a star anise and a few cloves and leave to infuse over the heat for a few more minutes. Turn off the heat and leave to cool. Strain and bottle.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl over a block of ice and garnish.

Garrick Street punch
This punch was created for the Garrick Club in the 1830s, when all the gentlemen’s clubs in London had their own signature recipe.
Ingredients 100ml sugar syrup 200ml Luxardo maraschino liqueur or Cointreau 300ml lemon juice 400ml gin 500ml soda water Lemon, orange or cucumber wheels to garnish
Method Combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl over a block of ice and garnish.

Tequila, pear and ginger punch
Tequila in a punch may look a bit alarming, but it’s remarkably refined.
Ingredients 430ml good quality white tequila 215ml Merlet crème de poire liqueur or cassis 215ml lime juice 650ml ginger beer Lime wheels to garnish
Method Combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl over a block of ice. Tweak the taste if you wish — you may want more lime or ginger beer — and garnish with lime wheels.

Bungled negroni
The gin of the traditional negroni is replaced with prosecco. I’ve also added a little orange juice to the mix (hand-squeezed if you can) to create a drink that’s a bit like a bittersweet bucks fizz.
Ingredients 250ml Campari 250ml red vermouth 500ml freshly squeezed orange juice 500ml prosecco Orange wheels and raspberries to garnish
Method Combine all the ingredients in a punch bowl over a block of ice and garnish either with orange wheels, or with basil and raspberries too, for really joyful colour.