Origins
You might be surprised, but in the 17th century men weren’t dreaming of gold. Spices! Nothing but spices! Clove, nutmeg, pepper – all the treasures of the East could be resold in Europe with insane markups. Thanks to guys like Vasco da Gama, Magellan, and their friends, the road to wealth was well mapped out, giving any mid-level merchant a shot at fortune.
I won’t bore you with the details of the British East India Company – you’re smart enough to Google that, or let me know in comments and I’ll write article about how they affect history of alcohol. Let’s just say that thanks to those greedy overlords of the time, our ancestors developed a taste for booze, spices, and the thing that tied them together: punch.
The Name
As you know, bartenders can’t resist arguing about origins. The most popular theory is that punch comes from the Hindi word “paanstch” (“five”), referring to the original five ingredients: something sour (lime or lemon), sugarcane juice, alcohol (brandy, rum, or arrack), water, and spices (nutmeg).
But cocktail historian David Wondrich smashes that theory to pieces – and let’s be honest, we trust the guy (he literally wrote the book on punch). He claims some dude spent a short time in India, came back, and spread the myth that punch had to be those five ingredients. In reality, it could be four, or six, and water could easily be swapped out for something else.
Wondrich himself prefers another origin: the “puncheon”, a half-liter cask that looks suspiciously like a punch bowl. Who you believe is up to you.
The First Punch
The earliest references give us two key dates.
- 1632 – A man named Robert Addams, stationed in India, writes a letter mentioning punch.
- 1638 – Johan Albert de Mandelslo records a recipe: aquavit, rosewater, citrus juice, and sugar.
While British sailors are usually credited with popularizing punch, echoes of the drink can be found long before East met West. Ancient Persia drank plenty of arrack, and the Persian word for “five” was panj. Even the Greeks had their own proto-punch: during festivals in Athens, the winner of a temple race got a cup of pentaplous – wine, flour, cheese, honey, and oil. Delicious? Questionable. But hey, history is messy.
England
Let’s get back to the “official” story. Merchant ships return to London full of spices, citrus, sugar, and spirits – everything you need to fill a punch bowl. Investors and shipowners come aboard to celebrate, drinking alongside sailors. A proper party.
For centuries, punch remained the drink of choice for the English elite. Tea, spirits, sugar, nutmeg, citrus – these ingredients were insanely expensive (a single lemon could cost the equivalent of $8). By the late 1600s, a three-liter punch bowl was worth half a week’s wages for the average Londoner.
The bowls themselves became luxury items, proudly displayed in wealthy homes. The middle class joined in too, thanks to… coffee houses. Since punch wasn’t taxed, it was one of the most profitable drinks a proprietor could serve.
And America? Well, let’s just drop this fact: after signing the U.S. Declaration of Independence, the Founding Fathers reportedly drank around 70 punch bowls. Enough said.
Today
Times change. Slowly sipping punch from a massive shared bowl may feel outdated, and even Jerry Thomas’s recipes look more like a nod to tradition than something modern. But here’s the twist: punch is back.
Big-name bars today? When they’ve got a birthday party with a crowd of guests, what’s on the welcome drink table? Definitely punch.
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Stay boozy, stay nerds
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