Punch was introduced from the Indian subcontinent to England by employees of the East India Company in the late 17th century.  The original drink was named paantsch from Hindi पाँच (pāñć), meaning “five,” as the drink was frequently made with five ingredients: alcohol, sugar, juice from either a lime or a lemon, water, and spices or tea. At parties, punch was typically served in wide bowls with aphorisms or jokes printed along the rim.  When the drinker emptied the bowl, they found the conclusion of the joke, the “punch line,” printed on the bottom of the bowl. 

Obviously, the other major product of the East India Company was tea.  Originally chartered as the “Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies”, the company rose to account for half of the world’s trade during the mid-1700s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton, silk, indigo dye, sugar, salt, spices, saltpeter, tea, and opium. The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India.

The combining of tea (stolen from China and cultivated in India) and punch was a clear favorite in Colonial America.  Our version of Black Tea Punch also introduces a uniquely American spirit – rye whiskey.

Recipe            

• 4 lemons
• 1 pound tea 
• 2 lb. brown sugar
• 2 fifths Rye Whiskey
• 2 gallons water

Peel the outer yellow zest off the lemons and muddle them with 1 cup of the sugar. Let this sit for about 2 hours mixing it every half hour or so. Juice the two lemons and reserve the juice.  Muddling the lemon peel and sugar is really important, it extracts the oils from the zest and gives the punch a brighter flavor. The term for this is oleo saccharum, and it’s something I do when I make any kind of punch that has citrus fruit in it.

Bring 2 gallon of water to a boil, once it boils turn off the heat and 10 minutes later add the tea, let it steep for 12 minutes. If you let it steep too long it gets very tannic.  Once it is done steeping remove the tea bags and drain them. Add the remaining sugar while it’s still warm and stir until it dissolves. Add the lemon juice and the lemon peel sugar mix and stir it in. Once it cools a bit add the alcohol.

Allow to chill at least 24 hours before serving, it allows the flavors to blend and it mellows out the tannins.

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