When we think of Rum Punch, we can’t help but reminisce about house parties, school
dances or backyard summers where the number of drinkers are plentiful and the crowd is young.

Don’t blame us – A super easy to make drink in the coolest bowl can be the star of the show without even trying.
But when we dug deeper, we realised that this presumably South American party actually has its roots in the ancient civilizations of SouthEast Asia, which first extended to the British during colonisation, and then to Europe naturally.
A punch, translates from the Sanskrit word paanch, which literally means FIVE, indicating the 5 ingredients required to complete this concoction.

The classic recipe of a punch can be remembered in a classic song –
1 part sour: fresh lime juice
2 parts sweet: fruit juice
3 parts strong: rum
4 parts weak: water/juice
Garnish:
Spices like nutmeg / cloves

The oldest punch to be recorded is called Meriton Latroon’s Bantam Punch. It was made with the spirit arrack, a traditional rum produced in Asia from the sap of palm trees and mixed with locally available spices and herbs.

Soldiers from the British army loved their beers – but the imported fermented liquid would easily spoil owing to the difference in weather between England and the Asian ports. Thus, they adopted the local drink that Nepal and the Indian subcontinent was producing in plenty – the Punch.

The drink thus became the fashionable replacement for artists, aristocrats and intellectuals. By 1655, the “modern” rum punch was born when Jamaican rum from the west Indies took over, made it quirkier, added more fruit juice to the mix and sold it into the United States of America.

The punch bowls however remain unique to Nepal & India – a handcrafted vessel to hold large quantities of the 5 ingredients, mixed together.
Some also believe that the word punch originates from puncheon, which was a volumetric description of the size of barrels in which the British would ship this cocktail.

Classic Recipe that you can easily replicate this season :

You can easily make this in bulk and let the cocktails going for your party all day or all night long!