How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas (1876, p.31) — Jerry Thomas 1876
| 64 oz | brandy — brandy | base |
| 6 whole | lemon — lemons | base |
| 64 oz | rum — Jamaica rum | base |
| 16 oz | milk — boiling milk | dilution |
| 32 oz | water — water | dilution |
| 16 oz | sugar — white sugar | sweetener |
- Steep the sliced lemons in the brandy and rum for twenty-four hours.
- Add the sugar, water, and boiling milk.
- When well mixed, strain through a jelly-bag.
- Bottle for later service, hot or cold.
- Nose
- Softened citrus and rounded spirit rise with unusual polish.
- Palate
- It is fuller and darker than English Milk Punch, with milk-straining smoothing the drink without making it overtly creamy.
- Finish
- The finish is long, mellow, and quietly citrusy.
- Summary
- A preserved milk-strained punch that sits between clarified milk punch and bottled spirituous hospitality drink.
This is a particularly useful historical bridge because it combines steeping, milk treatment, straining, bottling, and flexible later service. It shows nineteenth-century punch craft working across preservation and immediate consumption at once.
The long citrus steep matters, as does proper straining after the milk goes in. This is a technical punch even though the formula reads more simply than English Milk Punch.
Compared with English Milk Punch, this version is more compact and less spiced, but it belongs to the same wider clarified-and-preserved logic. It also stands close to later Fish-House-style milk punches.