St. Charles' Punch

How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas (1876, p.29) — Jerry Thomas 1876

1. Add the sugar, port wine, brandy, and lemon juice to a large bar glass.
2. Fill with shaved ice and shake well.
3. Ornament with fruits in season.
4. Serve with a straw.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Shaved ice

Nose

Red wine fruit and lemon sit over a restrained brandy core.

Palate

It is wine-led for a small punch, more rounded and dusky than the brighter berry-accented examples nearby.

Finish

The finish is cool, slightly vinous, and lingering.

Summary

A compact port-led punch that keeps old wine-service logic alive inside the iced bar-glass form.

St. Charles' Punch is important because it preserves fortified wine as a major structuring agent in an individual iced punch. It helps connect sangaree and wine-cup thinking to later smaller mixed drinks.

Despite its wine core, this should be properly iced and shaken. The fruit garnish keeps it within the ornamental punch grammar.

Compared with National Guard 7th Regiment Punch, this is darker, simpler, and more port-driven. It shows the bar-glass punch family spanning both berry-bright and wine-rich styles.

The Mixicologist by C. F. Lawlor (1895, p.61) — C. F. Lawlor 1895

1. Dissolve the sugar in a little water.
2. Add the Port wine, brandy, and lemon juice.
3. Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, ornament with fruits in season, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Shaved ice

Nose

Port and brandy rise through a fruit-trimmed chilled frame.

Palate

It is richer than a simple brandy punch but still brisk enough to work as a late bar-glass punch.

Finish

The finish is fruity, vinous, and lightly warming.

Summary

A compact Port-and-brandy punch showing continued small-format richness in the late century.

This is a useful later checkpoint because the name already appeared in the 1876 Thomas layer. Lawlor's version helps us trace how named punches continue to circulate and adapt across books.

The drink should feel integrated and cold, not merely piled with garnish. The Port remains a structural flavour, not a decorative note.

Compared with larger claret or bowl punches, this is more compact and spirit-rich. Compared with sangaree forms, citrus and shake push it more firmly into punch territory.

The Hoffman House Bartender's Guide by Charles S. Mahoney (1905, p.187)

1. Dissolve the sugar in a little water, then add the port wine, brandy, curacoa, lemon juice, and shaved ice.
2. Stir with a spoon, ornament with fruits in season, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Fruit

Ice: Shaved ice