Drinks

Classic West Indian Punch

Yield: Enough for a 1-gallon punch bowl, or about 28 (4-ounce) servings

Think of this history-steeped blend of sweetened tea and rum as a template— and then tweak it

Photo: Johnny autry | Food Styling by Charlotte Autry


A few years ago in Bridgetown, Barbados, the archaeologist Frederick H. Smith was excavating a seventeenth-century site when he unearthed a punch bowl. Then another, and another…eventually turning up bits and pieces of twenty-one bowls.

A tavern? No. “This was a single residence,” says Smith, the author of The Archaeology of Alcohol and Drinking. “They liked to drink a lot, and they liked to entertain a lot.” Which could be said of many of the people of the West Indies. Throughout the colonial era, punch spoke the universal language. The most common recipe was captured in a short ditty, easy enough for anyone to remember: “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.” This quatrain provided the basic guidance that for years enlivened untold bowls.

Be forewarned: It’s not especially good guidance for the modern age. The formula dates from when sugar was a newly affordable commodity, and “too sweet” was a phrase no one uttered, ever. This punch would be too treacly by half. Best to use an updated ratio: one part sour, one part sweet, two parts of spirit, and three parts of weak. That recipe offers both framework and flexibility. Think of it as an Ikea assembly diagram: It offers general guidance. You can change up the citrus, the spirit, or the type of tea in this recipe (red tea works wonderfully), then customize it with a splash of port or a liqueur.


Ingredients

    • 2 cups fresh-squeezed lime juice

    • 2 cups simple syrup*

    • 4 cups full-bodied rum

    • 6 cups brewed and cooled tea


Preparation

  1. Mix ingredients in a punch bowl. Add a large block of ice and let chill. Serve with a dusting of grated nutmeg.

  2. * Simple syrup: Combine one part sugar with one part water, and heat gently until sugar is dissolved.


Wayne Curtis is the author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails and has written frequently about cocktails, spirits, travel, and history for many publications, including the Atlantic, the New York Times, Imbibe, Punch, the Daily Beast, Sunset, the Wall Street Journal, and Garden & Gun. He lives on the Gulf Coast.


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