Tea cocktails are all the rage these days from Maison Premiere’s oolong-laced American Pharoah in New York to the matcha-fueled Midori Sour from downtown L.A.’s Ace Hotel. There’s plenty of room for creativity when it comes to mixing tea and spirits, thanks to thousands of different tea varietals around world. Many experts suggest infusing spirits with tea for a nice balance of flavors since infusions help retain the brew’s character without blotting out nuances in the company of stronger drinks. Tea-infused cocktails—from non-alcoholic sodas to boozier blends—are often just the thing for smaller, more intimate gatherings.
Having a big party or lots of relatives over? Punches are a fun and elegant choice for the holidays and home entertaining throughout the year. Bound to stir up some conversation, tea punches are a lively centerpiece, free you up to host (rather than fixing drinks behind the scenes) and have a centuries-old pedigree, dating back to the 1700s. The earliest punches were made with green tea, its astringency serving the role of bitters. By the time the father of American mixology, Jerry Thomas, came along in the 19th century, tea was used instead of water in classic punches. Vintage cookbooks tell the same story, with good old standbys like Fannie Farmer including afternoon tea punches in her standard repertoire.
Inspired by history and a passion for tea, I dug up this Civil War-era concoction for a fall equinox celebration, making a few adjustments to a time-tested recipe from cocktail historian David Wondrich’s Punch: The Delights and Dangers of the Flowing Bowl. Named after one of the longest-serving ships in the Navy, the U.S.S. Richmond Punch will be sure to add a bit of intrigue and sparkle to your next shindig. What, after all, livens up a party like a 150-year-old tea punch?
The U.S.S. Richmond Punch Recipe (adapted from David Wondrich)
Ingredients:
- 6 lemons
- 1 ½ cups of superfine sugar
- 1 pint strong-brewed black tea (Joseph Wesley Black Tea Lapsang Souchong adds a smooth, well-rounded biscuity flavor and smokiness)
- 1 pint Dark Jamaican rum (Wondrich recommends Smith & Cross or Myers’s; I swapped in a 12-year old golden El Dorado)
- 1 pint very special or very special old pale Cognac (Armagnac also works beautifully)
- 1 pint Ruby port (Graham’s Six Grapes)
- 4 oz Grand Marnier
- 1 ½ cups Club soda or Champagne
Directions:
Place a 2- or 3-quart bowl of water in the freezer and let freeze overnight. Peel 6 lemons with a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, trying not to get any of the white pith. In bowl, muddle the peels with 1 ½ cups of superfine sugar and let stand for an hour for the lemon oil to leach out. Juice the peeled lemons and add the juice to the sugar mixture, along with the tea. Strain out the peels and pour into a 1-gallon container. Add the rum, cognac, port and Grand Marnier, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
To serve, unmold the block of ice into a 2-gallon punch bowl. Add the chilled punch stock and top off with the club soda (or, if feeling dangerous, Champagne). Garnish with grated nutmeg and 1 seeded lemon sliced thinly. Serves 20. Bon voyage!
