Do you have a sizable house party or festive celebration in the works? It is a good time to treat your guests to refreshing pre-made drinks. You can prepare and refrigerate them one day ahead in big glass jars. A good mix of fruits, beverages, and herbs can transform a simple drink.
There are scores of such refreshing drink recipes. If your guests are not so many, you may dish out individual portions beforehand. Try using attractive empty jam jars to your advantage, and chill them apart. Using pretty empty jam jars instead of cups looks personalized and trend.
Making large-batch drinks in big glass jars for your party can be economical. You avoid the need to buy several bottles of expensive juice or store-bought drinks. Again, you can combine fresh ingredients from the kitchen. An optional dash of spirits or wine can energize the mix. It also offers an opportunity to cater to lovers and non-lovers of alcohol alike. Yet again, you can cut down alcohol consumption in a stylish way.
Prepare Party Drinks Ahead - 6 Drink Recipes
Try making the following 6 drink recipes in large glass jars before the D-Day. Each recipe requires at most 20 minutes. Garnish the empty jam jars with sliced or cubed fruit before serving. But note that:
- 1 ounce equals 2 tablespoons; and
- 8 ounces equal 1 cup
Red Wine Sangria
A sangria is a mix of fruit and wine. While bottled sangrias exist, a fresh-made one tastes exceptional. The red wine sangria is notable for its sweetness. The items below will make 12 servings:
- Red wine: 1 bottle (75cl)
- Ginger ale: 4 cups
- Lemonade or orange juice: A dash
- Pineapple: 1 whole one, both juice & diced pieces
- Citrus fruits: 1 each of orange, lemon, and lime; Slice them into wedges and seed them
- Strawberries or raspberries: 1 cup
- Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons
- Gin: 8 tablespoons; optional
Pumpkin Eggnog
Pumpkin eggnog goes well with celebrations like Christmas, New Year, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Making pumpkin eggnog requires:
- Canned pumpkin: ¾ cup
- Pumpkin pie spice: 2 teaspoons
- Sugar: 1½ cups
- Milk: 2 ½ cups
- Egg yolks: 12 eggs
- Heavy cream: 3 cups
- Grated nutmeg: Fresh
- Vanilla flavour: 2 tablespoons
Steps:
- Cook the sugar, milk, cream, and egg yolk in a big saucepan. Apply medium heat for 5 minutes - avoid boiling it.
- Keep stirring the liquid until it forms a fine coat on the spoon.
- Pass the liquid through a fine sieve before stirring other ingredients into it.
Garden Tea Punch
This combination of fruit juices and iced tea will please non-drinkers of alcohol. To prepare garden tea punch for 6 to 8 people, you need:
- Orange juice: ½ cup
- Lemon juice: ¼ cup
- Club soda: ½ bottle
- Strong brew tea: 1 cup
- Fresh mint: 1½ tablespoons. Use a sprig
- Rose, mint, pansy, or calendula: A few leaves, optional
- Sugar: ⅓ cup
- Water: 1 cup
- Ice cubes
Steps:
- Boil sugar, snipped mint, and water together for about 20 minutes.
- Once cooled, pass the liquid through fine sieve
- Mix in the remaining ingredients.
Strawberry & Mint Lemonade
Mint, fresh berries, and lemon combine to make this nice non-alcoholic cocktail. The recipe below covers 8 people.
- Fresh strawberries: 3 cups, sliced or diced
- Fresh mint leaves: 1½ cups, chopped
- Lemons: 8 or 9 lemons. 1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups of juice; ½ tablespoon of zest; & some slices
- Sugar: 1 cup
- Water: 6 cups
- Ice cubes
Steps:
- Add the strawberries, 3 cups of water, and sugar together in a saucepan. Stir the mixture until it boils, and the sugar dissolves. Then make it simmer for another 5 minutes.
- When the liquid cools down, add the mint. In another half-hour, it should infuse well.
- To remove the solids in the mixture, pour it through a fine mesh sieve.
Agua Fresca
Smash mangoes, citrus, and honey together to make this lively drink. The recipe below caters for 6 people.
- Orange juice: 1½ cups, fresh
- Whole orange: A few slices. You may use limes, mandarin, or clementine oranges instead
- Lime juice: ¼ cup, fresh
- Ripe mangoes: 4 of them, diced and seeded
- Honey: 2 tablespoons, optional
- Water: 1¼ cups
- Ice cubes
Steps:
- Blend the lime and orange juices with the mangoes to make a smooth paste.
- Using a fine-mesh sieve, separate the residue from the liquid.
- Mix the honey and water with the liquid. Serve it in chilled glasses or empty jam jars.
Orange Mocha
This hearty drink tastes wonderful for afternoon and evening get-togethers. To serve 6 people requires the items below:
- Cocoa powder: ½ cup, unsweetened
- Brown sugar: ½ cup
- Strong coffee: 5 cups, prepared hot
- Whipping, light, or half-and-half cream: 1 cup
- Orange: 1 whole one
- Orange peels: Curled, optional
- Orange juice or liqueur: 1 tablespoon, optional
- Honey: 1 tablespoon
- Cinnamon: ¼ teaspoon, ground
Steps:
- Add the peel to the hot coffee, and heat over medium heat. Remove the liquid after 5 minutes, and take out the peels.
- Whisk the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder together.
- Whisk the resulting mixture into the hot coffee to form a smooth blend.
- Add half of the cream by stirring it in.
- Serve them in individual empty jam jars or mugs.
- You may also prepare honey-orange topping. Whip the orange juice, honey, and the remaining cream together. One spoon is adequate for each serving.
Final Words
Party drinks pre-made in big glass jars are an alternative to store-bought drinks. You can combine fresh herbs and fruits with well-known beverages in innumerable ways.
Thus, you can plan for all your guests, whether they love alcohol or not. There are enough drink recipes for each class. You can offer individual portions in eye-catching empty jam jars.