Lemon Punch to Keep

Oxford Night Caps by Richard Cook (1860, p.21) — Oxford 1860

1. Remove the rind from six to eight lemons, squeeze out the juice, combine rind and juice with one quart of white brandy, and keep closely covered for three or four days.
2. Squeeze six or eight additional lemons into two quarts of water, sweeten sufficiently, boil well, and let the mixture cool.
3. Add a bottle of sherry or madeira to the cooled sweetened citrus water, then mix it with the lemon-and-brandy infusion.
4. If sufficiently sweet, strain through a flannel bag into a small cask, leave for three months, then bottle and let it rest another month in a cool place.

This is one of the book's clearest preserving formulas, pointing toward cellar-managed punch rather than immediate bowl service.

The maceration, cask rest, and delayed bottling matter as much as the ingredient list.