1. History

2. Variations
     Non-alcoholic    Alcoholic  

3. Punches around the world
     Australia    Barbados    Caribbean    England    Germany    Indian Subcontinent    Korea    Mexico    South America    Sweden    United States  

4. See also

5. References

6. Sources

The term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice.^[1][2] The drink was introduced from India to the United Kingdom in the early seventeenth century, and from there its use spread to other countries.^[3] Punch is typically served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls.

In the U.S., federal regulations provide the word "punch" to describe commercial beverage products that do not contain fruit or fruit juice. The term is used to label artificially flavored beverages, with or without natural flavorings, which do not contain fruit juice or concentrate in significant proportions.^[4] Thus a product labeled as "fruit punch" may contain no fruit ingredients at all.

History

The word punch may be a loanword from Sanskrit पञ्च (pañca), meaning "five", as the drink was frequently made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices.^[5][6] Some believe the word originates from the English puncheon, which was a volumetric description for certain sized barrels used to transport alcohol on ships.^[7]

The drink was brought to England from India by sailors and employees of the British East India Company in the early 17th century. From there it was introduced into other European countries. When served communally, the drink is expected to be of a lower alcohol content than a typical cocktail.^[3][8]

The term punch was first recorded in British documents in 1632. At the time, most punches were of the wassail type made with a wine or brandy base. But around 1655, Jamaican rum came into use, and the "modern" punch emerged. By 1671, documents make references to punch houses.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

Variations

Non-alcoholic

Non-alcoholic varieties, which are especially given to children as well as adults who do not drink alcohol, typically include a mix of some fruit drink such as juice, water, and a sweetener like sugar. It may also contain chunks of actual fruit. The non-alcoholic versions are typically served at highschool dances, churches, and other similar social occasions.

Commercial manufacturers distribute many types of "fruit punch" beverages. These are usually red-colored drinks. Despite the name, most brands contain only a small fraction of actual fruit juice, the major constituents being sugar or corn syrup, citric acid, and artificial flavors. They are used either as soft drinks or nonalcoholic cocktail mixers. Hawaiian Punch and Hi-C are two of the better known brands in the US. Other related drinks include Kool-Aid powdered drink mix, fassionola, and Tiki Punch (a carbonated soft drink from Shasta).

Alcoholic

Historically, most spirit based early alcoholic punches were made using either arrack or rum.^[9][10][11] Bajan (Barbadian) rum punch is one of the oldest rum punches and has a simple recipe enshrined in a national rhyme: "One of Sour, Two of Sweet, Three of Strong, Four of Weak." That is: one part lime juice, two parts sweetener, three parts rum (preferably Barbados), and four parts water. It is served with a dash or two of Angostura bitters and nutmeg.

There are many rum-based punches, including Planter's Punch, Fish House Punch, Caribbean Rum Punch, and others. Arrack based punches were included in Jacob Grohusko's 1910 and Charles Mahoney's 1912 bartenders guides,^[12][13] and an early recipe for arrack punch was written by Pehr Osbeck, Olof Torén, and Carl Gustaf Ekeberg in their 1771 book, A Voyage to China and the East Indies:

Alchoholic punches are common among parties for college and university students. These punches tend to be highly alcoholic and made with cheap ingredients. They may be referred to by names such as "grain punch" (made with high-proof grain alcohol and sundry mixers) or "Jungle Juice" (liquor of various sorts brought to a BYOB party, mixed in a lined trash can with various carbonated beverages, kool-aid, or whatever is on hand). Some exclude additional water altogether and have 30% alcohol by volume (ABV) or more.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}

Punches around the world

Australia

Blow My Skull is a famous alcoholic punch drink that originated in mid-19th century Australia that contains rum, porter, lime, sugar, and other ingredients.

Barbados

Bajan Punch is made with rum, lime juice, cane sugar, nutmeg, and bitters. Falernum liqueur is also frequently added^[15][16], which was itself an early form of punch made by steeping cloves with rum, lime, and other ingredients.

Caribbean

Ti' Punch, literally meaning "small punch", is a rum-based punch that is especially popular in Martinique and other French speaking islands of Caribbean. The drink is traditionally made with white rhum agricole, lime, and cane syrup.

England

Cups is a style of punch, traditionally served before the departure of a hunting party in England, but now served at a variety of social events such as garden parties, cricket, tennis matches, and picnics, cups are generally lower in alcohol content than other punches and usually use wine, cider, sloe gin, or liqueurs as the base. They often include quantities of fruit juices or soft drinks. One well known cup is the Pimm's Cup, using Pimm's №1 and British-style lemonade at a ratio of 1:2; a squeeze of lemon; then add orange, lemon and apple slices; a couple of cucumber wedges; and decorate with borage flowers.

Germany

Punch (Punsch in German) refers to a mixture of several fruit juices and spices, often with wine or liquor added and mostly topped with champagne or sparkling wine. Punch is popular in Germany and with many Germans who emigrated to America. Parties on New Year's Eve ("Silvester") often include a Feuerzangenbowle ("Burnt Punch" or, literally, "Fire Tongs Bowl"). This is a punch made of red wine and flaming overproof rum (such as Stroh), poured over a Zuckerhut (sugarloaf), a large conical sugar cube placed in the "Feuerzange".^[17] It's similar to mulled wine ("Glühwein"). Another warm punch, popular with hunters or others spending time in the cold is jagertee punch.

Indian Subcontinent

Arrack based punches were historically popular in India and Sri Lanka, where it was distilled from toddy, the juice of the cocoanut tree.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Korea

Hwachae, Sujeonggwa is a traditional punch made from dried persimmons, cinnamon, and ginger.

Mexico

Agua loca ("crazy water") is a very sweet punch usually made from fermented sugarcane, mezcal or tequila mixed with "aguas frescas" (usually agua de Jamaica or horchata). Due to its sweetness, the drinker may not taste the alcohol and become intoxicated more quickly than anticipated. This drink is popular on college campuses as an inexpensive means of becoming intoxicated.{{Citation needed|date=May 2010}}

South America

Punch is a mix between white wine and different kind of fruits, such as diced canned peaches.

Sweden

"Punch" is typically called bål in Sweden, and is commonly served in a bowl at social functions (e.g. graduation or wedding receptions). Bål as thought of broadly should not to be confused with Swedish Punsch, which is a specific type of alcoholic punch using arrack that is considered the national drink of Sweden.^[23] Due to its popularity the arrack punch saw commercial bottling in 1845, and became known more broadly outside Scandinavia as the liqueur Swedish punsch.

United States

Some claim Planter's Punch was invented at the bar of the Planters' House hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.^[25] The recipe of Planter's Punch varies, containing some combination of rum, lemon juice, pineapple juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine, soda water, curaçao, Angostura bitters, and cayenne pepper.^[26] The first known print reference to Planter's Punch was in the August 8, 1908 edition of The New York Times:

This recipe I give to thee,

Dear brother in the heat.

Take two of sour (lime let it be)

To one and a half of sweet,

Of Old Jamaica pour three strong,

And add four parts of weak.

Then mix and drink. I do no wrong —

I know whereof I speak.

Southern bourbon punch is a drink closely associated with Kentucky and other Southern states. Sweet bourbon punch is made with sweet tea (a signature drink of the South), citrus flavors and bourbon whiskey.^[27] Bourbon is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, and each year during the Kentucky Derby, recipes for bourbon punch abound.

See also

• Fruit cocktail
• Jungle juice
• Kompot
• Mojito is rum punch with added mint
• Non-alcoholic mixed drink
• Punsch (an arrack-based Swedish and Finnish liqueur)
• Shrub (drink)
• Ti'Punch is a rum-based mixed drink that is especially popular in French-speaking Caribbean states.

References

Sources

• {{cite book|author=Cross, Robert|title=The Classic 1000 Cocktails|date=1996|isbn=0-572-02161-5}}

• Lycaena corydonius
• Lycaena donina
• Lycaena editha
• Lycaena gorgon
• Lycaena lada
• Lycaena marcia
• Lycaena melicertes
• Lycaena monica
• Lycaena moriqua
• Lycaena oranigra
• Lycaena orbitulus
• Lycaena orbitulus pyrenaica
• Lycaena orbitulus walli
• Lycaena pandia
• Lycaena patala
• Lycaena pheretiades phereclus
• Lycaena pheretiades pheres
• Lycaena pheretiades philebus
• Lycaena pheretiades var. dschagataicus
• Lycaena pheretiades var. micra
• Lycaena pheretiades var. pheretulus
• Lycaena pheretiades var. tekessana
• Lycaena phoenicurus
• Lycaena poseidon
• Lycaena pyrenaica asturiensis