A dickens of a holiday punch

"It has inspired Dickens, converted voters, passed legislation, kept nations warm in winter, defined Christmas and ultimately given birth to our modern cocktail." So said barman Ben Leggett, editor of the website Drinking Cup. He was referring to punch, one of the oldest of libations.

Anointed the Monarch of Mixed Drinks by mixologist David Wondrich, punch dates back to the 17th century. The first recorded use of the term was in 1632, the same year that construction of the Taj Mahal began. The word "cocktail," for which punch is the precursor, would not come into use for another hundred years or more.

The drink's origins are in the British East India Trade when sailors ran out of beer and wine, which didn't keep well on long voyages, and resorted to local ingredients in Persia and India. In fact, the word "punch" may be derived from a Hindi word meaning five, the number of ingredients in a classic punch.

From there it spread to Britain (where Charles Dickens, who favored his punch flaming, became one of its most ardent devotees), then to the rest of Europe and on to America, where, it is reported, the Founding Fathers went through 76 bowls of punch celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

However, despite its rich history, when many of us think of punch, we think of the nonalcoholic versions served at high school proms, ladies' luncheons, or baby showers. Real punch -- without a trace of ginger ale, let alone lime sherbet -- is a far cry from that.

For an extra festive touch, punch, if high enough proof, may be flamed, a favorite technique of Charles Dickens, who was a punch aficionado.

For a time, starting back in Colonial days, real punch was highly prized. Thus, every prominent family owned a punch bowl, and the larger it was the more prominent the family. The record for the largest punchbowl, by the way, belongs to Courvoisier and Bompas and Parr who took an entire room in London and turned it into a 1000 gallon capacity vessel they called the Architectural Punchbowl that could serve 25,000 people.

No wonder, given its glorious past and the current resurgence of cocktails, that punch is trying to make a comeback. There's been something of a revival of the drink in recent years at fashionable bars. For example, the Punch Room in the Edition Hotel in London, designated one of the best bars in the world, serves the beverage as its primary offering. Its signature cocktail is a milk punch.

On the homefront, punch makes hosting a party that much easier, because there's no need to take individual orders or spend the night tending bar. You can even whip up a batch of punch beforehand so you can spend most of your time mixing with guests instead of mixing drinks. This communal component of the punch bowl is regarded by some as every bit as important as its contents. Hence, Amanda Hesser of The New York Times calls it a prop for mingling.

For all these reasons, you might consider offering your guests punch this holiday season. If you do, you and they will be drinking in a lot of history. Can there be a better way to punch up your holiday celebration?

Fish House Punch

This famous punch is the invention of Philadelphia's Schuykill Fishing Company. It's an especially potent brew as testified to by the fact that George Washington reportedly once imbibed so much of it he did not write in his diary for three days. Years ago, the late Dr. Katherine Parrish of the English Department at Southeast Missouri State University used to regularly treat her grammarian colleagues to her own version of the drink, to the point that they could no longer diagram an English sentence. This recipe is adapted from the online magazine PUNCH.

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 lemons
• 4 cups black tea
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 4 cups rum
• 2 cups cognac
• 1/2 cup peach brandy

Peel lemons and muddle peels together with sugar to release oils. Let sit for 30 minutes. Warm tea and add to sugar and peels stirring to dissolve sugar. Mix in lemon juice, rum, cognac, and peach brandy. Add ice, garnish with lemon slices and nutmeg and serve. May also be served hot. Simply eliminate ice and warm in a saucepan.