Cold Whiskey Punch – Recipe from Jerry Tomas’ ‘Bon Vivants Companion’

Use large bar glass 

One tablespoonful of powdered white sugar dissolved in a little water.

One and one half wine glasses of Irish or Scotch whiskey. 

Juice of half a small lemon. 

FILL the glass with shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with two thin slices of lemon, and berries in season. Serve with a straw. 

This beverage ought always to be made with boiling water, and allowed to concoct and cool for a day or two before it is put on the table. In this way, the materials get more intensely amalgamated than cold water and cold whiskey ever get. As to the beautiful mutual adaptation of cold rum and cold water, that is beyond all praise, being one of Nature’s most exquisite achievements.

Its been a while since I’ve visited the Bon Vivants Companion and I kind of miss it. There are way to many similar drinks for variety, and I’ve exhausted most of the shorter ‘cocktail’ sized ones, leaving just the taller drinks which I’m far less keen on. The Punch chapter is one I need to explore more often, annoyingly my home bar isn’t quite stocked well enough for free reign here so I’m going to try and exhaust the chapter through July and August.

Every punch I try I’m pleasantly surprised and this was no different. This one is basically a Scotch Sour, but even then something about the proportions and presentation make it taste much better than what I expected. To be honest I didn’t boiling water it, I do wonder what difference this makes, if any, and will have to experiment with one soon.

This is well worth a try, and very simple to put together.