Ponche

Ponche, or ponche navideño, is the hot fruit punch of the Mexican Christmas season — a fragrant amber brew simmered from tejocotes, guava, apple, sugarcane, raisins and dried hibiscus, sweetened with piloncillo and spiced with cinnamon, clove and star anise. It is the warming drink of Las Posadas, the nine nights of pre-Christmas processions, ladled steaming from a wide copper or clay cazo into mugs at family gatherings and street stalls. Mostly non-alcoholic, it is often offered "con piquete" — with a sting — by stirring in a measure of rum, tequila or mezcal. Soft chunks of stewed fruit are spooned in with the liquid, so the drink is half beverage and half dessert.