Rum Runner Press, Inc.
Bartender's Corner: Early American Rum Cocktail Part 12
Dr. Ron A. Ñejo talks about early American cocktails and offers a cocktail recipe of a Royal Punch (An excerpt from Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide: How To Mix Drinks, 1862).
Early American Rum Cocktails #12: Royal Punch
(From Jerry Thomas’ Bartenders Guide: How To Mix Dr inks, 1862)
Ingredients:
1 pint of Hot Green Tea
½ pint Brandy
½ pint Jamaican Rum
1 wine-glass Curaçoa
1 wine-glass Arrack
Juice of two Limes
A thin slice of Lemon
White Sugar to taste
1 gill of Warm Calf ’s-foot jelly
To be consumed as hot as possible.
This is a composition worthy of a king, and the materials are admirably blended; the inebriating effects of the spirits being deadened by the tea, whilst the jelly softens the mixture, and destroys the acrimony of the acid and sugar. The whites of a couple of eggs well beat up to a froth, may be substituted for the jelly where that is not at hand. If the punch is too strong, add more green tea to taste.
Bartender’s Corner-by Dr. Ron A. Ñejo
When studying the history of a country, some scholars undoubtedly head to the libraries, to read and re-read manuscripts of yesteryear. I, on the other hand, prefer to start by exploring the culinary and mixological legacy of the bygone eras: I head to the bars and pubs!
Early colonial America was a constantly changing landscape. The recipes for their contemporary cookery and drinkery are a window into that time. Join me as I journey through the best of what has survived, as I explore the drinks that forged and survived the growth of the American nation.