Fish House Punch
Americas oldest and most celebrated punch—rum, cognac, and peach brandy in perfect harmony
- 1½ cupsblack tea(brewed strong, cooled)
- ¾ cupsugar(superfine)
- 1½ cupsfresh lemon juice(about 12 lemons)
- 1 bottlejamaican rum(750ml)
- 1 bottlecognac(750ml)
- ½ cuppeach brandy(real peach brandy)
- lemon wheels, freshly grated nutmeggarnish
- 1Dissolve sugar in tea while still slightly warm
- 2Add lemon juice and stir well
- 3Add rum, cognac, and peach brandy
- 4Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight
- 5Pour into punch bowl over large block of ice
- 6Garnish with lemon wheels and fresh nutmeg
- 7Serve in punch cups
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Fish House Punch is the oldest known American punch recipe, created in 1732 at the State in Schuylkill fishing club in Philadelphia. George Washington reportedly attended a Fish House dinner in 1787 and was so affected by the punch that he left no diary entries for the following three days. Cocktail historian David Wondrich calls it the most famous punch in American history.
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