This 300-Year-Old Cocktail Recipe Still Packs a Punch

By Publications Checkout
This 300-Year-Old Cocktail Recipe Still Packs a Punch

Christmas time calls for punch, and the best recipe comes not from a trendy speakeasy but a 17th century Englishwoman, Hannah Woolley. Her 1670 domestic-advice best-seller, The Queen-Like Closet, included a soul-warming mixture of Bordeaux, brandy, nutmeg, and lemon, which became a favourite of both the working class and the royal family.

The posh Punch Room in the London Edition Hotel is keeping the tradition alive by updating the classic recipe using a piquant Barolo Chinato and hearty merlot. They give it a drier flavour than the overly sweet, fruity profiles of most flowing bowls today.

Davide Segat, the Punch Room bar manager, says the ultra-smooth Hennessy Fine de Cognac rounds out the base, which is accented with nutmeg and the acidity of the lemon. A splash of soda water lends effervescence.

“It’s a delicious, wintery, quintessentially British drink,” he says.

Hannah Woolley Punch - Serves 10

17½ oz. merlot5 oz. Barolo Chinato7½ oz. Hennessy Fine de Cognac7½ oz. nutmeg syrup7½ oz. lemon juice10 oz. soda water

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stir, and add a block of ice. Garnish glasses with lemon wheels, mint sprigs, red currant or white currant strings, and a dusting of nutmeg.

*To make nutmeg syrup: Add 1 lb. sugar, 17 oz. water, and the gratings of 1 nutmeg to a pan. Heat over low fire until dissolved and combined.

News by Bloomberg, edited by hospitality Ireland 

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