Shockingly, when snowed in, people want to get drunk.

I wanted something warm but I wasn’t really in the mood for something hot. Does that make sense?

I came up with this port punch that very easy to throw together and is very tasty.

port punch
Im-PORT-ant

This could also be called Cheater’s Sangria. It tastes a lot like sangria which makes sense since Port is red wine that’s been fortified with Brandy. Most sangrias are beefed up with brandy or rum or some other kind of hard liquor, but if you use port than that extra booze is already included!

Port Punch

port punch
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Author: Nick Evans
Servings: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
This could also be called Cheater’s Sangria. Marinating fruit in port and then mixing it with some juice and ginger ale makes for a perfect punch!

Ingredients 

  • 1 bottle, 750ml Port
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 1 orange, segmented and chopped
  • 1 lime, juice only
  • Grapes, optional
  • Orange juice
  • Ginger ale

One Drink:

  • 2 parts port mixture
  • 1 part OJ
  • 1 part ginger ale

Instructions

  • Cut segments out of oranges. Peel and core the apples and dice into chunks.
  • Add fruit to a bowl with lime joice and port.
  • Let marinate for 1-2 hours or overnight.
  • Mix 2 parts of the port mixture with 1 part OJ and ginger ale in a tall glass with ice.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Drink | Calories: 22kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 0.4mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 53IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 11mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Course: Drinks

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @crunchtimekitchen

I kept the fruit kind of minimal for this version because, frankly, it’s all I had! You could go crazy though with pears, berries, grapes, etc.

fruit and port
Basics…

When prepping your fruit, try to just get out the segments from the orange. You don’t want the white casing part which will be kind of bitter in the final drink and also hard to chew.

If you take a sharp paring knife and slice down each side of the segment, you should be able to just pop each segment out.

orange section
You just want the pulpy stuff.

Also, peel and core your apple and then dice it up into tiny chunks. Add all that fruit to a bowl along with your lime juice.

Fruit chopped
Fruit in a bowl.

Then add your port!

adding port
Action shot!

Now you could just let this marinate for an hour or two, but the longer the better. I let mine sit overnight in the fridge and it was great!

Finishing the Punch

When you’re ready to serve, you just need some ice, OJ and ginger ale.

ready for punch
After a night soaking…

I decided to mix mine up a cup at a time, but if you’re serving a crowd you could definitely mix up a big punch bowl and then just ladle the punch into glasses with ice.

The ratio is:

– 2 parts port mixture
– 1 part OJ
– 1 part ginger ale

port punch
Tasty!

The orange juice and lime juice do a great job of cutting the sweetness of the Port and the ginger ale gives it some good bubbles.

port punch 3
This’ll lift your spirits!
  • For another snow-in cocktail option, check out these Snow Cream drinks (which can be made adult only!)

I was kind of worried when I started making this mainly because Port is one of my most favorite drinks. The idea of wasting a bottle of it on a bad drink was scary to me! Luckily, this stuff turned out great. It tastes basically like sangria without the need for all the individual liquors!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to the largest snow storm in DC history…