Poinsettia Cocktail

[Photograph: Brian Oh]

Matthew Ficke of the Columbia Room in Washington, D.C. serves this fruity, effervescent drink during the holiday season and now, so can you.

Note: Stay away from 'cranberry juice cocktail' for this. Any brand of 100% unsweetened cranberry juice will work fine, says Ficke. The baked apple bitters are available online here and here.

Ingredients

serves makes about 10 servings, active time 10 minutes, total time 1 hour

• For the Homemade Spiced Cranberry Syrup:
• 2 cups unsweetened 100% cranberry juice such as Knudsen Just Cranberry
• 1 cup sugar
• 10 whole cardamom pods
• 2 star anise pods
• 5 whole cloves
• 1/2 tablespoon whole allspice berries
• One 2-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
• Zest of 1 orange, removed with a vegetable peeler
•  
• For the Punch:
• 1 cup Cointreau
• 1 cup Spiced Cranberry Syrup
• 6 dashes Bar Keep Baked Apple Bitters
• 1 bottle dry sparkling wine
• Garnish: lemon slices

Procedures

1. For the Spiced Cranberry Syrup: Heat the cranberry juice sugar, cardamom, star anise, cloves, allspice, ginger, and orange zest in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain through a fine-meshed strainer, discard solids, and reserve.

2. To make the Punch: Combine the Cointreau, cranberry syrup, and bitters in large bowl. Stir to mix. Fill with ice or a large ice block, top with entire bottle sparkling wine, garnish with lemon slices and serve.

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