Champagne Punch
Champagne Punch for about twelve is a chilled base of 200ml of cognac, 100ml of Cointreau or dry triple sec, 200ml of fresh orange juice and 50ml of fresh lemon juice, poured into a punch bowl over ice and topped with two 750ml bottles of cold champagne just before serving. About 30 UK units in the bowl, or about 2.5 in each of twelve cups. It is a house recipe in an old format. The cognac gives the bowl body and dried fruit under the bubbles, the orange liqueur and juice make it bright, and the lemon keeps the sweetness down so the third cup tastes as dry as the first. The method protects the fizz. Make the base ahead and chill it hard, open the champagne at the bowl, and add it as people arrive. For a long party, add one bottle at a time so the bowl never sits flat. Champagne contains sulphites, as all wine does.
Variations
Glassware: Champagne Flute
Garnish: Orange wheel floated on the bowl, Lemon wheel floated alongside and A scatter of fresh cranberries: red against gold
Ingredients
200ml
A VS or VSOP at 40% ABV. It gives the bowl body and a dried-fruit note under the champagne; an older cognac is wasted once the wine goes in.
100ml
At 40% ABV. It deepens the orange juice and adds peel oil. An orange liqueur made on a cognac base doubles the cognac’s note; a dry triple sec keeps the bowl crisper.
200ml
Squeezed the same day, about four oranges. It is the only fresh fruit in the bowl, and carton juice tastes cooked against the champagne.
50ml
Squeezed the same day, about two lemons. It keeps the orange and liqueur from turning the bowl sweet. Taste the base before chilling and add a little more if it seems flat.
2 bottles (750ml each)
A dry Brut at about 12% ABV, well chilled. A dry cava or crémant works the same way. It contains sulphites, as all wine does, and goes in last.
Instructions
Combine the cognac, orange liqueur, orange juice and lemon juice, and refrigerate for at least four hours.
Just before serving, put a large block of ice in a punch bowl and pour the base over it.
Open the champagne at the bowl and pour both bottles down the side.
Stir once, gently, and float orange wheels, lemon wheels and fresh cranberries on top.
Ladle about 170ml into each chilled flute of about 200ml, or a little less into punch cups.
Our version
Our own celebration bowl: 200ml cognac, 100ml Cointreau or dry triple sec, 200ml orange juice and 50ml lemon, chilled, with two 750ml bottles of champagne added at the bowl. No published original exists.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Chill everything. We suggest the base sits in the fridge for at least four hours, and the champagne cold from the fridge. Warm liquid releases carbonation fast, so a warm base flattens a bottle of champagne within minutes. The fresh juice steeps with the cognac and orange liqueur, refrigerated, for up to 24 hours; on its own, juice keeps only the day it is squeezed. Use one large block of ice rather than cubes. Freeze water in a loaf tin or a plastic tub the night before. A block melts slowly, so the punch stays cold without being watered down by the second hour. Pour the champagne down the side of the tilted bowl, not into the middle, and stir once with the ladle. Every extra stir costs bubbles.
Behind the Champagne Punch
Flavour Profile
A House Bowl for a Toast
This is our own recipe, not a recovered historical one. It is written for the kind of gathering where one bowl has to reach twenty hands for a toast, the food is rich, and the drink should be light on its feet.
The design splits the work in two. A cold base of cognac and orange carries the flavour and can be made a day ahead. The champagne brings lift and has a deadline, so the whole method is built around adding it late.
What the Base Does
Champagne on its own makes a thin punch once ice and juice are in it. The 200ml of cognac gives the bowl a backbone of dried fruit and oak that the wine sits on.
The orange liqueur and juice make the bowl taste of orange from two directions, peel oil and fresh fruit. The 50ml of lemon is small against them and it matters most: it keeps the sugar from building up as the evening goes on, cup after cup.
Keeping the Fizz
Carbon dioxide stays in cold wine and leaves warm wine quickly, so the base, the bottles and the bowl all need to be cold. A large block of ice holds the temperature for longer than cubes and melts more slowly, which also keeps the punch from thinning.
Open each bottle at the bowl and pour it down the side. Stir once with the ladle and leave it. For a long party, add the second bottle when the first is half gone; the bowl then tastes freshly made twice.
The Bowl, the Cup and the Pair
Champagne Punch: the full bowl, one cup of it, and our version for two
Cognac
- Full bowl
- 200ml
- One cup of twelve
- About 17ml
- Punch for two
- 30ml
Cointreau or dry triple sec
- Full bowl
- 100ml
- One cup of twelve
- About 8ml
- Punch for two
- 15ml
Fresh orange juice
- Full bowl
- 200ml
- One cup of twelve
- About 17ml
- Punch for two
- 30ml
Fresh lemon juice
- Full bowl
- 50ml
- One cup of twelve
- About 4ml
- Punch for two
- 15ml
Champagne
- Full bowl
- Two 750ml bottles
- One cup of twelve
- About 125ml
- Punch for two
- One 187ml bottle
Volume before ice melt
- Full bowl
- About 2 litres
- One cup of twelve
- About 170ml
- Punch for two
- About 280ml
UK units
- Full bowl
- About 30
- One cup of twelve
- About 2.5
- Punch for two
- About 4.0, or 2.0 each
| Element | Full bowl | One cup of twelve | Punch for two |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognac | 200ml | About 17ml | 30ml |
| Cointreau or dry triple sec | 100ml | About 8ml | 15ml |
| Fresh orange juice | 200ml | About 17ml | 30ml |
| Fresh lemon juice | 50ml | About 4ml | 15ml |
| Champagne | Two 750ml bottles | About 125ml | One 187ml bottle |
| Volume before ice melt | About 2 litres | About 170ml | About 280ml |
| UK units | About 30 | About 2.5 | About 4.0, or 2.0 each |
The version for two is not an exact eighth of the bowl. The lemon goes up, because a small jug warms faster than a bowl on a block of ice and loses its edge sooner.
How to Serve It
Bowl on the table, block of ice in the middle, orange and lemon wheels and a scatter of fresh cranberries floating on top, and a ladle. Chill the flutes or cups beforehand if there is room in the fridge.
Serve it early in the evening, for the toast and the first round, before heavier food. Keep a jug of water and a soft drink beside it. At about 2.5 units a cup, three cups come to about 7.5 units.
For champagne with gin and lemon in a single glass, make a French 75; for orange juice and sparkling wine alone, a Mimosa.
Make it at home
The Spirit
CognacCognac is a grape spirit distilled twice from white wine in copper pot stills in the Cognac area of western France and, under INAO’s specification, aged at least two years in oak and sold at no less than 40% ABV. The letters on the label are minimum ages, by the BNIC’s account: VS at least two years, VSOP four, XO ten. A VS or VSOP is what our cocktails assume.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
How many does Champagne Punch serve?
When should the champagne go in?
Does it have to be champagne?
How far ahead can I make the base?
Can I make it for two?
Is there anything in it I should warn guests about?
How strong is Champagne Punch?
Sources.
Correct as of 18 October 2026.
- legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II (as retained in UK law)” (point 12: sulphur dioxide and sulphites at more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/litre).
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French 75
A French 75 is 30ml of London Dry gin, 15ml of fresh lemon juice and 15ml of sugar syrup, shaken hard for 10 to 12 seconds, double strained into a chilled flute and topped with 60ml of cold brut champagne, with a lemon twist. About 1.9 UK units. The measures are the IBA’s. The name is the French army’s 75mm field gun of the First World War. The drink is usually credited to Harry MacElhone and Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, often with the date 1915, but the printed record starts later. MacElhone’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, published at the end of 1922 according to the Oxford Companion, has a ‘75’ of calvados, gin, grenadine and absinthe, as the Internet Archive’s scan of its second impression shows. The Companion, in an entry by David Wondrich, finds the gin, lemon, sugar and champagne formula and the French 75 name together first in Here’s How, a book put out by a New York humour magazine, in 1927. Built that way, it is a Tom Collins with champagne in place of soda: a short gin sour that the wine lengthens and lifts.
Mimosa
A Mimosa is 75ml of fresh orange juice poured into a cold flute, then 75ml of cold prosecco added slowly and stirred once. About 0.8 UK units. Those are the IBA’s measures, and the IBA lists an orange twist as an optional garnish. Difford’s Guide, a secondary source, says many books credit Frank Meier at the Ritz in Paris in 1925, though it puts the creation between 1921 and 1923, and the name is commonly said to come from the bright yellow flowers of the mimosa tree; we have found no primary record. The IBA also lists it as Buck’s Fizz. Difford’s defines the Buck’s Fizz as two parts champagne to one of juice and thinks it was created in 1921 by Malachi “Pat” MacGarry, the bartender at Buck’s Club in London. Half the glass is juice, so squeeze it the same day. Carton juice makes a dull Mimosa.
Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 18 October 2026