TOP 7 recipes for hot alcoholic punches for all winter occasions

The prim English call it “panch”, following the traditions of the oppressors of Indian Buddhists and all sorts of Sikhs. Panch from Hindi literally translates as “five”, according to the number of ingredients of the classic punch according to the old recipe: rum, sugar, lemon juice, tea and spices. Today it is the collective name for all mixed drinks, usually containing fruit juice and pieces of fruit.

In Russia of the 18th century, there was even such a verb in everyday life – “punch”, which could be interpreted as drinking in a cheerful company. Our ancestors liked to gather around a large punch bowl, which probably symbolized a bonfire, and put on an impromptu fire show by setting fire to sugar soaked in rum or cognac. Reminds me of a gooseberry, doesn’t it? In a sense, she, zhzhenka, is just a kind of our “punch”, a kind of hussar punch.

But this is all the ingenuity of the secular public. It is hard to imagine the British sailors of the East India Company of the early XNUMXth century, who, in a hot, humid climate, among tigers and mosquitoes, drank a hot alcoholic mixture. But it was they who brought this drink to England, thereby popularizing it throughout Europe. Probably the first punch, the classic one, was prepared exceptionally cold. But remembering the saying of Oscar Wilde: “I would not want to change anything in England except the weather,” it becomes clear why punches began to be served hot.

Punch Ingredients and Formulas

Meanwhile, the tradition of “punching” evolved very quickly. The classic recipe has long been forgotten. Now it is interpreted as a mixture of fruit juice, spices and sugar, fortified with wine and rum. It is not shameful to put honey instead of sugar, and bourbon or brandy instead of rum. In the circle of all kinds of teetotalers there, ordinary compote is called a punch at all – this is a non-alcoholic punch. But if you want to understand alcoholic beverages and follow the traditions, do not forget about the “five-part” basis of the first punches. In Europe, they look at it like this:

Punch recipes for all winter occasions

Cold and non-alcoholic punches are fine, but what’s the use of them in winter? You wouldn’t drink cold mulled wine or glög in 20-degree frost, would you? I would not. For a home party, of course, you can cook cold punches and not necessarily classic ones. Here you can use everything that comes to hand: wines, champagnes, liqueurs, etc. But hot punches are more responsive to the ingredients. We offer you recipes for 7 such punches.

Classic European punch with wine

An hour and a half before making the punch, you need to add spices to the wine to taste. It can be cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, dried ginger, etc. Choose their number for yourself, for starters, you can take the proportions from our classic mulled wine. Now let’s make punch. We heat the wine with spices to 65-70 degrees, add sugar and stir until it is completely dissolved. Squeeze out the right amount of juice from lemons and oranges to get 0,75 liters. Together with the peel, additionally cut the fruit into beautiful slices.

Next, mix all the ingredients in a large punch bowl. First, pour freshly squeezed juice into it, then wine heated to 70 degrees (it should be poured through a sieve to filter out the precipitate from spices), 100 ml or more of rum, fruit slices in any amount. On this punch is ready. The bowl should be covered with a lid and immediately served to the table, pouring it into heat-resistant glasses.

Fire Punch by Charles Dickens

The recipe for this punch was taken from Dickens’ 1847 letters. It has been changed quite a bit and adapted to the current realities. This is a fairly strong punch, so it should be served in small quantities. Together with lemon zest, a few cinnamon sticks fit very well.

In a heat-resistant bowl or stainless steel saucepan, grind the sugar with the zest of 3 lemons. Leave for 30 minutes. Add rum and cognac, and then set fire using a heat-resistant spoon with any strong alcohol, you can use alcohol. Let the mixture burn for about 3 minutes, after which the flame can be extinguished by covering the container with a lid. Remove the lemon zest (if it is left for a long time, bitterness may appear in the punch), add the juice of 3 lemons and hot black tea or just boiling water. Garnish with citrus slices and grated nutmeg. Before serving, the drink can be infused for about 3 hours in the refrigerator, and then heated again, but it can be drunk immediately.

Cranberry Punch with Pepper

Pour pepper into a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir it for about 2 minutes until the aroma comes out. Add cranberries, 1 glass of wine, honey and simmer over medium heat for about 7 minutes until the honey is completely dissolved. Gently crush the cranberries with a fork, add the remaining wine and sage. Boil over low heat for another five minutes. Strain through a sieve, mashing the cranberries well. Let the punch cool and refrigerate for a day or two. Before serving, heat to steam and add Benedictine, which can be replaced, for example, with homemade Drambuie. Serve cranberry punch in warm bowls.

Strong punch with gin and Madeira

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain through a sieve or several layers of gauze. Pour into a punch bowl or large pitcher. Garnish with orange slices and cloves. Drink in a big company and wait for the summer.

Hot punch with tequila

In a saucepan, combine tequila, orange, grapefruit and lemon juice. Add cinnamon and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Before this, you need to brew two glasses of strong black tea. Remove the mixture from heat, remove the cinnamon and add the tea. Sweeten to taste, mix well and pour into a punch bowl. Serve immediately and pour into glasses.

Cognac coffee punch

It is advisable to use natural medium roast coffee without aromatic additives. Grind it into dust and brew, for example, in a Turk. Strain through a sieve with a paper towel or through a special coffee filter. On medium heat, heat the wine to 70 degrees, and then add it to the coffee along with the cognac. Wash the orange well with a brush and dry, and then rub sugar cubes on it, which will absorb essential oils. Pour coffee punch into cups and add sugar to taste.

Egg punch or german eggnog

I would like to finish the selection of these amazing warming goodies with a classic punch, which is prepared in Germany. At home, it is called “Eierpunsch”. In composition, it is very similar to eggnog, which we already know, but the German alcoholic eggnog is always served hot, since it is customary to drink it at Christmas markets.

Prepare 250 ml of strong black tea. Whisk 5 tablespoons of sugar and 4 eggs/8 egg yolks in a bowl. Add some cold wine to it and whisk more vigorously. Now it’s time to add vanilla sugar to the mixture, which can be replaced with 2 tsp. regular sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract, remaining wine, cloves and cinnamon, iced tea and lemon juice to taste. You can also add 50 ml of dark rum or cognac to the mixture, but this is not necessary.

Put the mixture on a slow fire and heat until a white foam appears on the surface. The main thing is not to let the punch boil. The heated drink must be filtered through a sieve or simply remove the cloves. Egg punch should be served hot in beautiful cups. If desired, you can add a little whipped cream and grated ginger on top. Eierpunsch tastes great with gingerbread cookies. Egg punch can also be made with red wine, but you don’t need to add tea.

Bon appetit and warm winter!