Nectar Punch

How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas (1876, p.42) — Jerry Thomas 1876

1. Infuse the peel of fifteen lemons in a pint and a half of rum for forty-eight hours.
2. Add three further pints of rum, the two quarts of cold water, and the lemon juice.
3. Pour on the boiling-hot milk and add the grated nutmeg.
4. Let the mixture stand twenty-four hours, covered close.
5. Add the loaf sugar.
6. Strain through a flannel bag until quite fine, then bottle for use.

Nose

Lemon oil, rum, and softened spice rise from a polished bottled punch.

Palate

It is rich and rounded, with milk treatment smoothing the rum and citrus into a broad, luxurious whole.

Finish

The finish is mellow, citrusy, and persistent.

Summary

A sophisticated rum milk punch that closes the 1876 punch chapter on a note of technical refinement.

Nectar Punch is an excellent closing drink for the book's punch chapter because it brings together long citrus infusion, milk treatment, fine straining, and bottling. It demonstrates how far nineteenth-century punch could travel from simple bowl mixture into process-driven luxury.

This is a genuinely technical drink. The peel infusion, covered rest, milk addition, sugar timing, and final flannel clarification all matter to the result.

Compared with English Milk Punch, Nectar Punch is more rum-centred and somewhat cleaner in its flavour range. It still belongs squarely to the great milk-treated preserving line.

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.53)

1. Infuse the thin lemon peels for forty-eight hours with a pint and a half of the rum, add the water, lemon juice, hot milk, and grated nutmeg, let stand covered for twenty-four hours, add the sugar, strain through flannel, bottle, and keep for use.

Ice: Ice

Cheerio! A Book of Punches and Cocktails by Charles (1928, p.38)

1. Pour the rum, boiling-hot milk, cold water, and granulated sugar into a small punch bowl.
2. Cool gradually, add ice, add a few slices of apple before serving, and serve.

Garnish: A few slices of apple.

Ice: Ice