Save Yourself a Pot O’ Gold on St. Patrick’s Day With This Party Punch

When I say St. Patrick’s Day, what do you think of?

Pub crawls, whiskey shots, pints of Guinness and a rousing good time, right?

But for those of us who don’t want to brave the rowdy crowds to drink overpriced shots in grungy bars, a St. Paddy’s party at home might be the better route to take.

Of course, you could have Baileys, Jameson and cans of Guinness ready for your friends to enjoy (or kindly ask them to bring their own), but if you want to stretch your drink budget a little — and actually enjoy your night without being stuck playing bartender, a whiskey punch is the way to go.

I normally associate whiskey punch with the winter holidays, but for a St. Patrick’s Day punch, a good whiskey base is vital. To lighten it up for spring (or at least the very beginning stages of it) I wanted to make something that had a brighter, more tart flavor than the traditional spiced, wintery versions.

This recipe, from the folks over at Sugar and Charm, had exactly the type of flavor combination I was looking for — plus, the addition of the green tea and mint offers a subtle nod to St. Patrick’s Day’s color scheme without requiring an entire container of green food coloring.

You can prepare most of the ingredients in large batches ahead of time and keep them in the fridge. That way, when your guests arrive, you can mix it all together in a punch bowl or pitcher and let your friends serve themselves.

Makes 12-15 servings

Ingredients

8 cups brewed green tea: 46 cents

½ cup honey (can be adjusted depending on your preferred sweetness level): $1.20

½ cup fresh lemon juice: $1.00

1 cup ginger ale: 21 cents

1 ½ cups your favorite Irish whiskey: $10.88

Mint leaves: $1.00

Total: $14.75

(For a boozier — albeit slightly pricier — version, you could switch out the ginger ale for your bubbly of choice.)

Directions

Make the tea:

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil on the stove. Once the water boils, remove it from the

heat and let it sit for a few minutes.

Place five tea bags in the water and allow to steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags.

Make the punch:

While the tea is still warm, transfer to a heatproof bowl. Add the honey and stir until dissolved.

Add the lemon juice, ginger ale and whiskey, stirring to combine.

Serve over ice.

This recipe uses the mint leaves as a garnish, but you could also muddle them and add them directly to the punch.

Grace Schweizer is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder.

Headings hand-lettered by Kristy Gaunt, Illustrative Designer at The Penny Hoarder.