Penitent Punch is basically a wine lover’s version of a Long Island Iced Tea.
Made with Tequila, Vodka, Red Wine, and Lemonade, this cocktail packs a punch on several levels.
It’s easy to make by simply shaking tequila, vodka, and lemonade together.
Pour over ice and top with a red wine float, and you have a festive cocktail dressed up and ready to party.
And this punch recipe only has 137 calories, you can enjoy one without the guilt!
Enjoy Penitent Punch Year Round
It’s easy to find reasons to enjoy this pretty drink all year long.
After all, it’s a yummy red wine and vodka cocktail.
But it is especially suited for summer and autumn gatherings, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and any time the color red is the star of the show.
Despite that festive nature, this cocktail also puts out a wonderfully creepy vibe when served up for Halloween – especially if your party has a vampire theme!
Why is this wine, vodka, and tequila cocktail called penitent punch?
You may wonder why a cocktail this pretty has a name like Penitent Punch.
Does it mean that this drink is inherently dangerous and likely to make you repentant?
Or is this cocktail the perfect antidote to feeling penitent about something else?
I like to think it’s because the red wine float makes it a touch naughty.
When you look at it, without the red wine float, it looks rather sweet and innocent, but add that layer of red wine, and pow!
You’ve got something a little, well, less innocent looking.
And super tasty!
So it’s perfect to serve when you want something a little spooky, or even a little romantic!
I guess that is something you will have to decide for yourself!
Serving Penitent Punch for the Holidays
With its red wine float on the top, it’s also a great drink to serve for Halloween!
It’s a very similar drink to a Devil’s Margarita.
If you’re serving Penitent Punch for Halloween, I like to leave off the garnish and just let the wine do the work for the spooky bit. The way the wine sits on top is nice and bloody.
You can always take a pair of plastic vampire teeth and use it similarly to how we did in our Vampire Bite cocktail for fun too!
If you’re serving the drink for Christmas time, I leave off the lemon wheel and add an extra large mint garnish to really emphasize the red, green and white festive colors.
You can even substitute a lime wheel instead!
Ingredients you need to make Penitent Punch
Serves: 1 eight oz glass – You may multiply the recipe and even make it by the pitcher.
- 1/2 oz Tequila
- 1/2 oz Vodka
- 4 oz lemonade
- 1 oz Red Wine
You’ll need these bar tools to make the drink: jigger, cocktail shaker, and of course, beverage glasses.
Can I make this drink more like a Long Island Iced Tea?
If you really want to take this to the next level and make it a lot like a Long Island Iced Tea, you may also add 1/2 ounce each of light rum and dark rum.
It packs a punch, but it’s really good!
Then, it’s kind of like a lemonade based LIT with a splash of red wine.
Can I make this drink into a Devil’s Iced Tea?
You sure can!
In fact, when you do, we call it the Devils Iced Tea.
What you do is you mix up the lemonade and iced tea together like you would when making an Arnold Palmer.
Then, using the Arnold Palmer for your base, you mix the tequila, vodka, and add the splash of red wine just like in the instructions above.
The only difference is that you’re using 4 ounces of the Arnold Palmer mixture rather than straight up lemonade.
However, you can also add a shot of rum and gin too if you want.
And that’s how to make a Devil’s Iced Tea cocktail!
Can I make penitent punch without the alcohol?
I often like to include instructions for how to enjoy a drink without the alcohol for our friends who don’t drink.
But with this drink, we’re kind of out of luck.
If we leave out the alcohol, we’re left with lemonade.
That said, you can float some grape juice on top of the lemonade if you want a drink to look like a glass of penitent punch.
But it won’t taste the same.
It will just be grape juice floating on top of lemonade.
If you’re looking for some great recipes without alcohol, I’ve tagged my recipes that are either alcohol-free or have a yummy way to make a mocktail using non-alcoholic substitutions.
You can find those under our mocktails category.
How to make Penitent Punch
I like to begin by preparing my garnishes for this drink because once I’ve poured the wine layer, I want to serve this drink right away.
To make the drink, you’ll first pour your tequila, vodka, and lemonade in a cocktail shaker.
Give it a really good shake to make sure that the ingredients are well-combined.
Fill your beverage glass with ice.
Then pour the mixture over the ice.
The next step is to pour the red wine over the lemonade and liquor mixture so that the red wine floats on top.
To make this easy, I like to measure the wine into a jigger or shot glass so that I’m not pouring it from a wine bottle.
There’s a trick to doing this so that the wine will float in layers.
Take a spoon (I like to use a bartender’s spoon for this) and turn it upside down.
Slowly pour the wine over the back of the spoon so that it will gently drizzle on top of the lemonade mixture.
The wine will combine gradually with the lemonade mixture over time, so it’s important to have your garnish prepared ahead of time.
I like to add a lemon wheel and a sprig of mint. Serve and enjoy!
Of course, you may stir the drink if you like to combine the flavors.
But it looks so pretty in layers before it’s mixed.
Enjoy some more delicious drinks!
And if you want to whip up some more refreshing drinks, you may like these too!
Raspberry Peach Prosecco Popsicles
Frozen Pink Strawberry Peach Cocktail
Layered Red and Blue Kool-Aid Punch
try it and share!
Please let us know how you enjoy our Penitent Punch recipe.
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You may enjoy following our Pinterest Boards, Tequila Recipes and Halloween Cocktail and Mocktail Recipes.
Penitent Punch
Equipment
- Jigger
- Cocktail Shaker
- Beverage Glasses
Ingredients
- ½ oz Tequila
- ½ oz Vodka
- 4 oz Lemonade
- 1 oz Red Wine
Instructions
- Mix tequila, vodka, and lemonade in a cocktail shaker.
- Shake to combine.
- Pour over ice in an 8 oz glass and top with red wine.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe for Penitent Punch was originally published on August 16, 2019. It was updated in January 2022.
Hi, I’m Jennifer. I love to cook and entertain. I have a lot of fun sharing traditional food and drink recipes as well as putting a new spin on the classics. I strive to provide easy to make recipes that are perfect for the home cook, bartender and entertainer.
When we made this again to consider adding the recipe to the blog, the red wine we used was from a winery here in Southern CA called Barrel 1. I had a bit of a bottle of their 2015 Tempranillo left, and it was exquisite. You can use whatever red wine you prefer in this recipe, but this is an excellent recipe for finishing off a bottle.