Hazelnut! Winter! Punch! My favorite winter punch stall sells Haselnusspunsch.
And it’s the best. Really.
I’ve been meaning to make my own for years now, but somehow I never got my hands on anything reasonable for the hazelnut flavoring. Haha! Until now. I found hazelnut syrup in Vienna’s fancy first district Merkur a few weeks back and of course I set out to recreate my favorite punch. Alcohol free.
Hazelnuts aside, it is really hard to find special and interesting wintery drinks without alcohol. More generally, it is way too hard to avoid alcohol. I’m constantly irritated by how much alcohol is being consumed as a basic building block for social interactions … But I digress. I’m not in the mood to discuss politics and social protocols, so let’s make punch instead.
And before anyone complains about the lack of booze: The best thing about this recipe is that it goes both ways. The basic recipe is kid people-who-don’t-drink friendly, but it can be adapted to be “regular” punch with rum.
Haselnusspunsch
| You need | |
|---|---|
| 1.5L | water |
| 0.5l | apple juice |
| 2 | oranges (the juice) |
| 2 | lemons (the juice) |
| 5 bags | Winterzauber tea |
| 1-2 | cinnamon sticks |
| 15 | cloves |
| 120ml | Monin hazelnut syrup |
| Optional | |
|---|---|
| 100ml | Rum (or to taste) |
In a big pot, bring the water and apple juice to a boil.
Meanwhile, juice the lemons and oranges.
Add the spices, fruit juices and tea bags to the pot. Let the mixture simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat (or the lowest setting if you are planning on keeping it warm during a party) and add the hazelnut syrup.
If you want to add rum, you can do that now. If you only wanted alcoholic hazelnut punch to begin with, you could just as well use clear hazelnut liqueur to replace the syrup (and probably omit the rum).
Serve hot and enjoy!
Note
I use a tea blend called “Winterzauber” that’s readily available in Austria. If you can’t get that, you can substitute it with other wintery fruit teas.
And because that tea blend is quite specific, I looked up the ingredients for Winterzauber tea so you can find a good substitute. The following list is ordered by weight. I hope that helps, but I’m sure future me will be happy about having done that the next time I want to make punch while not in Austria ;)
Ingredients: hibiscus, rose hip, cinnamon, Spekulatius flavoring, apples, orange peel, elderberries, cloves, peppermint.
