The Tavern Hive: Punch Recipes

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We hope everyone enjoyed Tavern Keeper Sabra Welch's lecture on the business of running a tavern.  As promised, here is her bibliography as well as a couple of punch recipes for you to try.

It's Friday -- get out your muddler and punch bowl and enjoy happy hour 18th century style.  And if you are going to gamble, remember to do so in private!



Punch RecipesThese receipts are taken from The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary, by John Nott printed in England in 1723.
To make Punch RoyalTake three pints of the best brandy as much spring-water, a pint or better of the best lime juice, a pound of double refined sugar. This punch is better than weaker punch, for it does not so easily affect the Head, by reason of the large Quantity of Lime-juice, more than common and it is more grateful and comfortable for the stomach.
Note: This punch may be too tart for modern tastes but remember that punch making is an art.  Some experimentation may be in order to adjust the level of sweet or sour…. or even the ratio of spirits to water.   It is also, according to Mr. Nott, quite strong… so either have a designated driver if you serve this at a party… or plan for overnight guests.
Punch for ChambermaidsTake a quart of water, a quarter of a pint of Lime juice, squeeze in also the juice of a Sevil Orange and a lemon, put in 6 ounces of sugar. Strain all through a strainer 3 times til very clear, then put in a pint of brandy and ½ pint of white wine.

Note: Seville oranges or sour oranges are available from December to February.  If you are making this punch at other times of the year, use orange juice and increase the amount of lemon juice you add to keep the correct amount of sourness to the punch.  Start by adding an extra table spoon or two of lemon juice, taste and adjust if needed   

Bibliography
Keeping Tavern in New Englandin theEighteenth Century
Primary Sources: At a Court Held at Punch Hall, in the Colony of Bacchus: The indictment and Tryal of Richard Rum, a Person of Noble Birth and Extraction Well Know Both to Rich and Poor throughout All America, Boston, 1724
Dickerson, Oliver Morton, ed. Boston under Military Rule, 1768-1769 as Revealed in a Journal of the Times, 1936; Westport, CT, 1971
Massachusetts, The Acts and Resolves, Public and Private, of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, 21 vols.  Boston, 1869-1921.
New Hampshire, [Provincial and State Papers], 40 vols. (Concord: State of New Hampshire, 1867-1943)New Hampshire GazetteNew Hampshire Laws
Secondary Works:                   Bailyn, Bernard, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson, Cambridge, MA, 1974Conroy, David, W. In Public Houses, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 1995Crane, Elaine Foreman, EbbTide in New England, Northeastern University Press, Boston, MA, 1993Earle, Alice Morse, Stage-couch and Tavern Days, New York, 1900Field, Edward, The Colonial Tavern…, Providence, RI, 1897Garvin, Donna-Belle, and James L. Garvin, On the Road North of Boston, University of New England Press, Hanover and London, 1988Gross, Robert A. The Minutemen and Their World, New York, 197Salinger, Sharon V. Taverns and Drinking in Early America, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 2002Thompson, Peter, Rum Punch & Revolution, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1999Wood, Gordon S. The American Revolution, The Modern Press, New York, 2003

Images from Lewis Walpole Library