Punch (drink)

“ Punch became popular in New England just as it did in old England, in fact, wherever English-speaking sea rovers could tell of the new drink. In 1682 John Winthrop wrote of the sale of a punch bowl [Pg 116] in Boston, and in 1686 John Dunton told of more than one noble bowl of punch in New England.
Every buffet of people of good station in prosperous times soon had a punch bowl. Every dinner was prefaced by a bowl of punch passed from hand to hand, while the liquor was drunk from the bowl. Double and “thribble” bowls of punch were served in taverns ”

“ To beat or hit, especially in such colloquialisms, as “to punch one’s head.” This is not the same word as (1) but is a shortened form of “punish,” from Lat. punire, of which the ultimate origin is poena, penalty, from which is derived “pain.” (3) The name of a drink, composed of spirits, water, sliced lemons or limes, or lemon-juice, together with sugar and spice, and served hot. According to the spirit with which it is made, it is known as brandy, whisky, rum punch, &c. Milk-punch is made of milk and spirit, bottled and served cold. ”

“ When people sit down to drink punch, they are not so apt—owing to the great length of time which elapses ere such a weak fluid produces intoxication—to be betrayed into excess as when indulging in toddy. In this point of view it may be said to be less injurious; but let the same quantity of spirits be taken in the form of punch, as in that of grog or toddy, and there can be no doubt that in the long run the consequences will be far [238] more fatal to the constitution. ”

“ Before using the glass, rinse it in hot water.
↑ Sugar does not readily dissolve in spirits; it is necessary, therefore, in making hot toddy or punch to put in the water before the spirits, or at least sufficient of the water to entirely dissolve the sugar, taking care to warm the glass before pouring boiling water into it.
The best Hot Whiskey Punch is made with pulverized rock-candy. This is preferable to sugar, for any hot drink made of whiskey or brandy. ”

“ A small minority occasionally injure themselves with bad liquor on Sunday, and these reformers can think of nothing better than to forbid the entire Community to drink on Sundays at all."
Punch descants rhetorically for nearly one hundred lines on Smugby's Sabbath, fanaticism, Pharisaism, etc., but as a Londoner he had probably never witnessed the orgies of the [Pg 166] Glasgow Fair. He never failed to insist on the intemperateness of Temperance reformers, but as a supporter of moderate drinking he was himself often guilty of immoderate language. ”

“ CHRISTMAS "CRACKERS."
Plum-pudding never disagrees with me, however much I take of it. No more do mince-pies, no matter how many I eat. Steaming hot-and-strong gin-punch is the most wholesome beverage; so, also, is brandy-punch. It can't harm anybody who, on the Pickwickian principle, "takes enough of it." Both beverages go admirably with cigars and pipes. If you have anything like a headache on Boxing-day morning, depend upon it, it comes from abstemiousness in drinking, eating, and smoking. ”

“ As for the working-men, they smoke pipes of tobacco almost to a man, and as generally prescribe for and administer to themselves alcohol in some one or other of its forms, commonly that of something short, which, if asked to give it a name, we will call gin, or euphemistically, Old Tom, not to say, dyslogistically, blue ruin, for the useless sake of pleasing the United Kingdom Alliance; those conspirators against the potatory liberty of the subject who hate us youth, and specially abhor Punch. ”

“ Put a small block of clear ice in the punch bowl, pour in the punch, then add to it either Maraschino cherries, or hulled small ripe strawberries, or pineapple or bananas, peeled and cut in tiny dice—or a mixture of all these. Serve in chilled punch cups, with after-dinner coffee spoons for the fruit. The fruit can be left out, and the punch served with sandwiches the same as iced tea. A wineglass of yellow chartreuse, added just after the rum, is to many palates an improvement. So is a very little peach or apricot brandy. ”

“ Clubs there were not a few about Fleet Street and the Strand, where the men who founded Punch, and their friends and enemies alike in similar walks of life, would hob-nob together, and where the sharp concussions of their diamond-cut-diamond wit would emit the sparks and flashes that were remembered and straightway converted into "copy." In those early days the flow of soul was closely regulated by the flow of liquor, and the most modest of Dinners was food at once to body and to mind. ”

“ The distiller’s big hand was thumping on the table.
“You hear what I say, Stetman! I’m goin’ to land this bunch of cranks! On the day you discover the active principle in alcohol they’re done! There’s nothin’ to it, they’re done! The whole country will get drunk and stay drunk! God Almighty couldn’t stop it when you get the kick-drop out of the bottle of water that’s in a quart of alcohol.
“It’ll take an army of agents to stop the smuggling of liquor as it is; how will they stop it if a man can carry the punch of a barrel of whisky in an ounce bottle?” ”

“ A man can never make good Punch unless he is satisfied, nay positive, that no man breathing can make better. I can and do make good Punch, because I do nothing else; and this is my way of doing it. I retire to a solitary corner, with my ingredients ready sorted; they are as follows; and I mix them in the order they are here written. Sugar, twelve tolerable lumps; hot water, one pint; lemons, two, the juice and peel; old Jamaica rum, two gills; brandy, one gill ”

“ Half a pint of rum, half a pint of brandy, quarter of a pound of sugar, one large lemon, half a teaspoonful of nutmeg, one pint of boiling water.
Rub the sugar over the lemon until it has absorbed all the yellow part of the skin, then put the sugar into a punch bowl; add the lemon juice (free from pips) and mix these two ingredients, well together. Pour over them the boiling water, stir well together, add the rum, brandy and nutmeg; mix thoroughly and the punch will be ready to serve. It is very important in making good punch that all the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated ”

“ Very best Materials
are absolutely necessary for the manufacture of punch, as of other compound drinks. In the above recipe for instance by “madeira,” is meant “Rare Old East Indian,” and not marsala, which wine, in French kitchens, is invariably used as the equivalent of madeira. There must be no inferior sherry, Gladstone claret, cheap champagne, nor potato-brandy, used for any of [Pg 210] my recipes, or I will not be responsible for the flavour of the beverage. The following is the best idea of a milk punch known to the writer:—
4. ”

“ Wines, lemonades, coffee, brandy, whiskey and punch are in abundance. Punch is seen in all its glory on this day, and each householder strives to have the best of this article. There are regular punch-makers in the city, who reap a harvest at this time. ”

“ Punch, a mysterious and delectable compound, we had better not order in the bar, its consumption is so much more pleasant upstairs; but there is no reason why we should not admire the punch bowls, and having considered them and studied the portrait of an erstwhile waiter over the fireplace as much as they deserve, we probably turn about, and, as the eyes become accustomed to the darkness, find ourselves confronted with the way out. ”

“ Punch! was it punch, or was it negus, or was it sherbet? We don't know, but it was a pleasant, moderately exhilarating beverage, compounded of whiskey, raspberry syrup, sugar, and orange-flower water, and manufactured by Nix, as he subsequently explained, at a cost of about thirty cents per bottle. A few little cakes and some plates of thin, daintily cut slices of bread-and-butter accompanied the beverages, and were handed round with them. We are great believers in eating and drinking at all social gatherings. ”

“ But first fill your glass, Jack; you need not be afraid of this stuff; it never saw the face of a gauger. Come, no skylights; ’tis as mild as new milk; there’s not a head-ache in a hogshead of it.”
To encourage me by his example, my uncle grasped the huge black case-bottle which stood before him, and began to manufacture a tumbler of punch according to Father Tom’s popular receipt.
Whilst he is engaged in this pleasing task, I will give my readers a pen-and-ink sketch of my respected relative. ”

“ But his own strong drink was now brought in, and pouring out a glassful of undiluted brandy he drank it down and muttered:
"That's the stuff! It will keep up the fire. My veins would stiffen without it. It has carried me so far, and it must to the end. Then–no matter!"
The stranger or traveler looked as if wondering that the young man could take such a fearful dose of fiery liquor, and the wonder must have increased when a second glassful was drained before the food was on the table. ”

“ Punch, says this profound investigator, is a liquor compounded of spirit and acid juices, sugar and water. The spirit, volatile and fiery, is the proper emblem of vivacity and wit; the acidity of the lemon will very aptly figure pungency of raillery, and acrimony of censure; sugar is the natural representative of luscious adulation and gentle complaisance; and water is the proper hieroglyphick of easy prattle, innocent and tasteless.
Spirit alone is too powerful for use. It will produce madness rather than merriment ”

“ Punch is bitterly sarcastic against this condescending solicitude on the part of peers and prelates for the spiritual welfare of the vulgar cockneys, snips, snobs, mechanics, shopmen, and their womenkind; creatures that not only consume tea and shrimps, periwinkles, and ginger-beer, but also smoke pipes and penny Pickwicks! ”

“ And I heartily wish a law were enacted under severe penalties against drinking punch at all; for nothing is easier than to prove it a disaffected liquor: the chief ingredients, which are brandy, oranges, and lemons, are all sent us from popish countries; and nothing remains of protestant growth, but sugar and water. For as to biscuit, which formerly was held a necessary ingredient, and is truly British, we find it is entirely rejected. ”

“ In all nature there is no substance that destroys or lessens a drunkard's desire for intoxicating liquors; and there is no such thing as permanently disgusting him with brandy by giving him more brandy than he wants. A drunkard's drinking is not a thing of mere appetite; his whole system craves stimulation; and he would drink himself into perdition while loathing the taste of the liquor. This Asylum simply gives its inmates rest, regimen, amusement, society, information. ”

“ The proprietor, James Ashley, in his advertisement announcing the opening, professes cheap prices, especially for punch. The usual price of a quart of arrack was then eight shillings, and six shillings for a quart of rum made into punch. This new punch house, Dorchester beer, and Welsh ale warehouse, on the contrary, professed to charge six shillings for a quart of arrack made into punch; while a quart of rum or brandy made into punch was to be four shillings, and half a quartern fourpence halfpenny, and gentlemen were [Pg 474] to have punch as quickly made as a gill of wine could be drawn. ”

“ In a similar manner, orange, lemon, or calf’s-foot jelly can be converted into punch jelly, by using Punch à la Ford, prepared with less lemon juice.
Punch Jelly is a very insinuating and deceptive refreshment, because its strength is not appreciated when partaking of it, and it must therefore be indulged in with becoming moderation. ”

“ The verdict of François Guislier du Verger, the master-distiller in the art of chemistry at Paris, in his Traité des Liqueurs, in 1728, is altogether unfavourable to what he calls Le Ponge. “It is,” he says, “an English liqueur, and a man must be English to drink it; for I think it cannot be to the taste of any other nation in the world. It upsets the stomach, provokes the bile, and violently affects the head. How, indeed, can it be otherwise, seeing that it is composed of white wine, Eau de vie, citrons, a little sugar, and bread crumbs.” ”

“ What there is about gin that makes it the national beverage for bad people beats me, for it looks like water, tastes like medicine and smells like cold storage eggs. At home when a person takes a drink of beer or whisky he at least looks happy for a minute, and maybe he laughs, but here nobody laughs unless somebody gets hurt, and that seems to tickle everybody in the White Chapel district. ”

“ If well made, in our opinion, there is no beverage, in point of generosity and delicacy of flavour, that can compare with Milk Punch, for the compounding of which, after numerous trials, we offer the following recipe as the simplest and best.
Milk Punch.
To the rinds of twelve lemons and two Seville oranges add 21⁄2 pounds of loaf sugar, a bottle of pale brandy, and a bottle and a half of old rum, with a sufficient quantity of grated nutmeg. Let this mixture stand for a week; then add the juice of the fruit, with five pints of water ”

“ Anisette, Bitters, Caraway, Cherry Brandy, Clove, Curaçoa, Elderette, Fettle, Ginger Brandy, Ginger Cordial, Ginger Gin, Ginger Punch, Gingerette, Lemon Punch, Lime Fruit, Nectar Punch, Noyeau, Orange Bitters, Orange Gin, Peppermint, Pepper Punch, Pick-me-up, Raspberry, Raspberry Punch, Rum Punch, Rum Shrub, Sarsaparilla, Shrub, Spiced Ale, Strawberry, Tangerine, Tonic, Winter Punch.
But enough of these chemical concoctions of man; let us go to Nature, and see what she turns out of her laboratory. ”