| Fish-House Punch There's a little place just out of town, Where, if you go to lunch, They'll make you forget your mother-in-law With a drink called Fish-House Punch. |
| An early-known print reference to Fish-House Punch is in "The Cook" (1885). [1] [ unreliable source? ] |
Fish house punch is a strong, rum-based punch containing rum, cognac, and peach brandy. The drink is typically served over an ice block in a punch bowl and garnished with lemon slices. [2]
It is held to have been first concocted in 1732 at Philadelphia's fishing club, the State in Schuylkill, [3] also known as the "fish house".[ citation needed ]
A 1744 note by the secretary of an embassy of Virginia Commissioners contains what may be the earliest record of the punch. Meeting local notables at the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, he described being served "a Bowl of fine Lemon Punch big enough to have Swimmed half a dozen of young Geese." [2]
America's first president, George Washington, indulged in thirteen toasts – one for each state – during a victory celebration at New York's Fraunces Tavern, and it is said that after he partook of fish house punch at Philadelphia's State in Schuylkill, he couldn't bring himself to make an entry in his diary for the following three days. [4]
The State in Schuylkill fish house Punch is traditionally made in a large bowl that did double duty as a baptismal font for citizens' infants. "Its an ample space . . . . . would indeed admit of total immersion," one citizen noted. [5]
The "fish house" is said to have been a gentlemen's club devoted to cigars, whiskey, and the occasional fishing foray upon the Chesapeake or upon the Restigouche River in Canada. Another version states that it was created in 1848 by Shippen Willing of Philadelphia, to celebrate the momentous occasion of women being allowed into the premises of the "fish house" for the first time in order to enliven the annual Christmas party. [6] It was supposed to be just "something to please the ladies' palate but get them livelier than is their usual wont."
The punch, which contains rum, cognac, and peach brandy, is potent, so it is normally diluted with cold black tea, a common mixer for this particular punch, or with seltzer water. Some punch bowls may not be large enough to accommodate the large ice block called for, and though the block is a classic part of this recipe, it can, of course, be simply served in a pitcher over ice cubes.
Stir together sugar and 3½ cups water in a large bowl or pot until sugar is dissolved. Add lemon juice, rum, cognac, and brandy and chill, covered, at least 3 hours. Put half-gallon ice block in a punch bowl and pour punch over it.
A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over a large amount of ice. The ratio of gin to tonic varies according to taste, strength of the gin, other drink mixers being added, etc., with most recipes calling for a ratio between 1:1 and 1:3. It is usually garnished with a slice or wedge of lime. To preserve effervescence, the tonic can be poured down a bar spoon. The ice cools the gin, dulling the effect of the alcohol in the mouth and making the drink more pleasant and refreshing to taste.
The Tom Collins is a Collins cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar, and carbonated water. First memorialized in writing in 1876 by Jerry Thomas, "the father of American mixology", this "gin and sparkling lemonade" drink is typically served in a Collins glass over ice. A non-alcoholic "Collins mix" mixer is produced, enjoyed by some as a soft drink.
The Long Island iced tea, or Long Island ice tea, is an IBA official cocktail, typically made with vodka, tequila, light rum, triple sec, gin, and a splash of cola. Despite its name, the cocktail does not typically contain iced tea, but is named for having the same amber hue as iced tea.
The term punch refers to a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruits or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from the Indian subcontinent to England by employees of the East India Company in the late 17th century. Punch is usually served at parties in large, wide bowls, known as punch bowls.
Amaretto is a sweet Italian liqueur that originated in Saronno. Depending on the brand, it may be made from apricot kernels, bitter almonds, peach stones, or almonds, all of which are natural sources of the benzaldehyde that provides the almond-like flavour of the liqueur. It generally contains 21 to 28 percent alcohol by volume.
A sour is a traditional family of mixed drinks. Sours belong to one of the old families of original cocktails and are described by Jerry Thomas in his 1862 book How to Mix Drinks.
A Scorpion Bowl is a communally shared alcoholic tiki drink served in a large ceramic bowl traditionally decorated with wahine or hula-girl island scenes and meant to be drunk through long straws. Bowl shapes and decorations can vary considerably. Starting off as a single-serve drink known as the Scorpion cocktail, its immense popularity as a bowl drink in tiki culture is attributed to Trader Vic.
The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks is a book about cocktails by David A. Embury, first published in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its witty, highly opinionated and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails into two main types: aromatic and sour; its categorization of ingredients into three categories: the base, modifying agents, and special flavorings and coloring agents; and its 1:2:8 ratio for sour type cocktails.
The brandy daisy is a cocktail which first gained popularity in the late 19th century. One of the earliest known recipes was published in 1876 in the second edition of Jerry Thomas's The Bartenders Guide or How To Mix Drinks: The Bon-Vivants Companion:
Fill glass one-third full of shaved ice. Shake well, strain into a large cocktail glass, and fill up with Seltzer water from a syphon.
The Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania, also known as the State in Schuylkill, was the first angling club in the Thirteen Colonies and remains the oldest continuously operating social club in the English-speaking world.
Hwachae is a general term for traditional Korean punches, made with various fruits or edible flower petals. The fruits and flowers are soaked in honeyed water or honeyed magnolia berry juice. In modern South Korea, carbonated drinks and/or fruit juices are also commonly added to hwachae. Hwachae is often garnished with pine nuts before it is served.
A polar bear, After Eight or Peppermint Paddy is a mint chocolate cocktail that tastes like a York Peppermint Pattie or an After Eight mint. It is usually made from crème de cacao and peppermint schnapps, although crème de menthe is a popular substitute.
Curaçao punch is a cocktail that comes from Harry Johnson's New and Improved Bartender's Manual (1882). Dale DeGroff, a notable bartender and author of The Craft of the Cocktail, holds this to be his favorite forgotten potation.
The Malecon is a cocktail named after the El Malecón, the winding beachfront avenue atop the seawall in Havana, Cuba.
A Rum Collins is a cocktail based on the Tom Collins substituting a light rum for the gin.
Blow my skull is an alcoholic punch drink that originated in mid-19th century Australia. As listed in The English and Australian Cookery Book by Edward Abbott, it calls for two pints of boiling water, sugar loaf, lime or lemon juice, one pint of ale or porter, one pint rum, and a half a pint of brandy. It has been described as a "notoriously potent alcoholic concoction".
Chatham Artillery punch is a potent punch containing rum, whisky, brandy, and Champagne. It also contains lemons and sugar. Named after the Savannah regiment, it is well-known in the city of Savannah, Georgia, which is located in Chatham County.
