Crafting custom cocktails for party guests will render you playing bartender all night. Instead, make a big batch of this festive wassail from Christy Pope and Chad Solomon, the master mixologists behind The Joule’s Midnight Rambler. It makes the perfect self-serve signature drink—and looks beautifully retro in a punch bowl to boot.

Wassil

Ingredients
1½ ounces (45ml) whiskey (we especially like Laird’s Straight Applejack 86 Proof)
½ ounce (15ml) El Dorado 12-yr. rum
4 ounce (120m) wassail batch*
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

*Wassail Batch
1 quart organic apple cider
1 pint pomegranate juice (non-sweetened, not from concentrate)
½ cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice

Directions
To prepare wassail batch, combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least one hour or until all ingredients are well incorporated, and then strain the spices.

The wassail can be served hot when the batch is ready, or it can be refrigerated and served cold with the spirits of your choice. If serving cold, it’s nice to shake the wassail and spirits and then serve over fresh ice in a punch glass. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Cheers!

Festive occasions call for breaking out the bubbly. But before you pop the cork on that top-shelf Champagne, consider one of the other equally tasty—and often more reasonably priced—sparkling wines that exist in the market. Jennifer Eby, wine director at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, offers up a few of her favorites.