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Punch is an alcoholic cocktail containing fruit or fruit juice. These are versatile buffet drinks that perfectly complement any party. Depending on the recipe, they can be served cold or hot. We will look at how to make a classic punch recipe with the best modern variations.
Historical reference. It is believed that the punch was invented by English officers who served in Hindustan. The original version of the drink consisted of five ingredients: hot water, rum, sugar, lemon juice and tea. At the beginning of the 1632th century, the punch recipe was brought to Europe by the sailors of the British East India Company. The first written record of punch dates back to XNUMX.
Classic punch recipe
Ingredients:
- rum – 350 ml;
- hot water – 750 ml;
- leaf black tea – 2 teaspoons;
- sugar – 3 tablespoons;
- medium sized lemon – 1 pc.
Preparation
1. Brew tea with hot, but not boiling water. Leave for 15 minutes and strain.
2. Add rum, sugar and freshly squeezed juice of one lemon to tea. Mix.
3. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat over low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat.
Hot punch is usually served in ceramic (porcelain) cups or in tea glasses with glass holders. It tastes closer to grog, a rum-based alcoholic cocktail.
Having made a classic punch, you can move on to experimenting with ingredients and proportions. For example, replace rum with cognac, add honey with spices, fruits, etc. But if wine or champagne is used instead of hard liquor, then you are making mulled wine, not punch.
When creating your own unique recipe, I advise you not to forget the main rule – the punch cannot be heated above 70 ° C, since at a higher temperature its alcohol base breaks down, worsening the taste.
Cold fruit punch
Ingredients:
- pineapple, lemon, orange juice – 100 ml each;
- sugar – 3 tablespoons;
- cherry (raspberries, strawberries) – 10-15 berries;
- orange – 1 thing;
- lemon – 1 piece;
- rum (cognac) – 150 ml.
Preparation
In one container, mix all the fruit juices and cognac, add sugar. Cut fruit into slices (remove pits from cherries). Add fruit to juice with cognac. Pour the resulting fruit punch into glasses. It can be chilled by adding ice cubes.
Coffee punch
Ingredients:
- rum – 0,5 liters;
- cognac – 0,5 liters;
- coffee – 1,5 liters;
- sugar – 400 grams.
Preparation
1. Brew strong natural coffee.
2. Pour sugar into an enamel bowl, pour it with rum and cognac, set it on fire.
3. When the hot sugar is completely dissolved, pour coffee into it.
4. Pour the drink into cups and serve.
Chocolate punch
Ingredients:
- cognac – 250 ml;
- chocolate – 100 grams;
- sugar – 200 gram;
- red wine – 1 liter;
- water – 0,5 liters.
Preparation
Grind chocolate, mix it in a saucepan with water, wine, cognac and sugar. Heat the resulting mixture to 65°C and pour into porcelain cups.
Egg punch
Ingredients:
- water – 0,5 liters;
- black tea – 6 teaspoons;
- sugar – 35 gram;
- egg yolk – 2 pieces;
- rum – 100 ml;
- nutmeg – to taste.
Preparation
Brew tea, infuse it and strain. Beat the egg yolks until foamy, add the yolks to the tea container along with the rum and nutmeg. This punch is served hot.
