Punch (drink) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Punch is the term for a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

, generally containing fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

or fruit juice

Juice

Juice is the liquid that is naturally contained in fruit or vegetable tissue.Juice is prepared by mechanically squeezing or macerating fruit or vegetable flesh without the application of heat or solvents. For example, orange juice is the liquid extract of the fruit of the orange tree...

. The drink was introduced from India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

in the early seventeenth century; from there its use spread to other countries. Punch is typically served at parties

Party

A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....

in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowl
Punch bowl
A punch bowl is a bowl, often large and wide, in which the drink punch is served.-Origins:The word punch is a loanword from Hindi. The original drink was named paantsch, which is Hindi for "five", and the drink was made from five different ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices...

s.

History

The word punch is a loanword

Loanword

A loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...

from Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

panch and the drink was originally made with five ingredients: alcohol

Distilled beverage

A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...

, sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

, lemon

Lemon

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

, water, and tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

or spice

Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. It may be used to flavour a dish or to hide other flavours...

s. The original drink was named paantsch.

The drink was brought back from India to England by sailor

Sailor

A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...

s and employees of the British East India Company

British East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

in the early seventeenth century. From there it was introduced into other Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries.

The term punch was first recorded in British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

documents in 1632. At the time, most punches were of the Wassail

Wassail

The word Wassail refers to several related traditions; first and foremost wassailing is an ancient southern English tradition that is performed with the intention of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest...

type made with a wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

or brandy

Brandy

Brandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...

base. But around 1655, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n rum

Rum

Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

came into use and the 'modern' punch was born. By 1671, documents make references to punch houses.

Today, soft drink 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 majority of the flavor comes from sugar or corn syrup, citric acid, and artificial flavors.

Southern Bourbon Punch

A drink closely associated with the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the southern U.S. Sweet bourbon punch is made with sweet tea (a southern signature drink), citrus flavors, and bourbon. Bourbon is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, and each year during the Kentucky Derby, recipes for bourbon punch abound.

Cups

Another type of punch, traditionally served before the departure of a hunting party in England

England

, but now served at a variety of social events such as garden parties

Garden party

A garden party is a social gathering with food provided, in the open in a park or a garden. An event described as a garden party is usually more formal than other similar gatherings, which may be called just parties, picnics, barbecues, etc,...

, cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

, tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

matches, and picnic

Picnic

In contemporary usage, a picnic can be defined simply as a pleasure excursion at which a meal is eaten outdoors , ideally taking place in a beautiful landscape such as a park, beside a lake or with an interesting view and possibly at a public event such as before an open air theatre performance,...

s, cups are generally lower in alcohol content than other punches and usually use wine

Wine

, cider

Cider

Cider or cyder is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% abv to 8.5% abv or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and America, cider may be termed "apple wine"...

, sloe gin

Sloe gin

Sloe gin is a red liqueur flavoured with sloe berries, which are a small fruit relative of the plum. Sloe gin has an alcohol content between 15 and 30 percent by volume. The traditional way of making sloe gin is to infuse gin with the berries. Sugar is required to ensure the sloe juices are...

, or liqueurs as the base. They often include quantities of fruit juices or soft drink

Soft drink

A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...

s. One well known cup is the Pimm's Cup, using Pimm's

Pimm's

Pimm's is a brand of fruit cups, but may also be considered a liqueur. It was first produced in 1823 by James Pimm and owned by Diageo since 2006. Its most popular product is Pimm's No. 1 Cup.-History:...

№1 and British-style lemonade

Lemonade

Lemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sugar.The term can refer to three different types of beverage:...

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

Borage

Borage, , also known as a starflower, is an annual herb originating in Syria, but naturalized throughout the Mediterranean region, as well as Asia Minor, Europe, North Africa, and South America. It grows to a height of , and is bristly or hairy all over the stems and leaves; the leaves are...

flowers.

Rum punches

There are several rum-based punches: Planter's Punch, Bajan Rum Punch, Caribbean Rum Punch, and others. The two most historical rum punches are the Planter's Punch and Bajan Rum Punch.

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

Angostura bitters

Angostura bitters, often simply referred to as angostura, is a concentrated bitters made of water, 44.7% alcohol, gentian root, and vegetable flavoring extracts by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. They are typically used for flavoring beverages, or food...

and nutmeg

Nutmeg

The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...

.

The recipe of Planter's Punch varies, containing some combination of rum, lemon juice, pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

juice, lime juice, orange juice, grenadine

Grenadine

Grenadine is traditionally a red syrup. It is used as an ingredient in cocktails, both for its flavor and to give a reddish/pink tinge to mixed drinks. "Grenadines" are also made by mixing the syrup with cold water in a glass or pitcher, sometimes with ice....

, soda water, curaçao, Angostura bitters, and cayenne pepper.

The first known print reference to Planter's Punch was in the August 8, 1908 edition of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

:

PLANTER'S PUNCH

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.

Around the world

Punches are extremely common among parties for college and university students. These punches tend to be highly alcoholic and made with cheap ingredients. Some even exclude water altogether and have 30% alcohol by volume (ABV) or more.

Korea

Sujeonggwa
Sujeonggwa
Sujeonggwa is a Korean traditional fruit punch. Dark reddish brown in color, it is made from dried persimmons, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn and is often garnished with pine nuts. The punch is made by brewing first the cinnamon, ginger and peppercorn at a slow boil...

is a traditional punch made from dried persimmon

Persimmon

A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...

s, cinnamon

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...

, and ginger

Ginger

Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....

Mexico

Agua loca ("crazy water") is a very sweet punch usually made from fermented sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

, mezcal

Mezcal

Mezcal, or mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant native to Mexico. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl metl and ixcalli which mean 'oven cooked agave.'...

or tequila

Tequila

Tequila is a spirit made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, northwest of Guadalajara, and in the highlands of the western Mexican state of Jalisco....

mixed with "aguas frescas

Aguas frescas

Ades, punches, fruit drinks and other non-alcoholic flavored coolers, known as aguas frescas in some parts of Latin America, are a combination of either fruits, cereals, or seeds with sugar and water, blended to make a beverage. Aguas frescas are popular in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean,...

" (usually agua de Jamaica

Hibiscus tea

Hibiscus tea is the infusion made from the calyces of the Hibiscus sabdariffa flower, an herbal tea drink consumed both hot and cold by people around the world...

or horchata

Horchata

Horchata or orxata is the name of several kinds of traditional beverage, made of ground almonds, sesame seeds, rice, barley, or tigernuts .-Etymology:...

). 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..

Germany

Punch (Punsch in German) refers to a mixture of several fruit juices and spices, often with wine or liquor added. Punch is popular in Germany and with many Germans who emigrated to America. The traditional German Christmas often includes a Feuerzangenbowle
Feuerzangenbowle
is a traditional German alcoholic drink for which a rum-soaked sugarloaf is set on fire and drips into mulled wine. It is often part of a Christmas or New Year's Eve tradition. The name translates literally to fire-tongs punch....

("Burnt Punch" or, literally, "Fire Tongs Bowl"). This is a punch made from red wine and flaming rum

Rum

, poured over a Zuckerhut ("sugar hat"), a large conical sugar cube

Sugar

placed in the "Feuerzange".

Commercial brands

A number of beverage manufacturers produce punches, either as nonalcoholic mixers

Drink mixer

Drink mixers are the non-alcoholic ingredients in mixed drinks and cocktails. There are many reasons mixers are used. They change or enhance flavors or add new ones to a drink. Mixers dilute the drink, lowering the alcohol by volume in the drink. They may make the drink sweeter, more sour, or more...

or as soft drinks. Hawaiian Punch

Hawaiian Punch

Hawaiian Punch is a brand of fruit punch drinks owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. . It was created in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yates, Ralph Harrison as an ice cream topping in a converted garage in Fullerton, Calif.; customers later discovered that it made an appealing drink when mixed with water...

and Hi-C

Hi-C

Hi-C may refer to:* Hi-C, a beverage brand* Hi-C , a Compton, California rapper* HiC, a C++ Compiler and Integrated Development Environment...

are two of the better known brands in the US. other related drinks include the Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid

Kool-Aid is a brand of flavored drink mix owned by the Kraft Foods Company.-History:Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska, United States. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack...

powdered drink mix, and Tiki Punch, a carbonated soft drink from Shasta

Shasta (soft drink)

Shasta Beverages is a U.S. soft drink manufacturer, which markets a value-priced soft drink line with a wide variety of soda flavors, under the brand name Shasta Soda. The company name is derived from Mount Shasta and an associated spring.- History :...