St. Charles Punch

American and Other Drinks by Leo Engel (1878, p.23)

1. Fill the tumbler with shaved ice, shake well, ornament with fruit, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Fruit

Ice: Shaved ice

How to Mix Drinks: Bar Keepers' Handbook by Winter (1884, p.22) — Bar Keepers' Handbook 1884

1. Dissolve sugar with water, add port and brandy, shake well, dress with pineapple, oranges, and berries, and serve with straws.

Garnish: Pineapple, oranges, and berries

The Police Gazette Bartenders Guide by Richard K. Fox (1888, p.40) — 1888

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

Garnish: Fruits in season

Ice: Shaved ice

Summary

A fortified-wine punch branch that keeps Port and brandy intertwined in iced bar-glass service.

This matters because it preserves the Port-led bar-glass punch line at a moment when many later histories center only rum or whiskey branches.

Its identity depends on the shaved-ice punch treatment rather than any elaborate seasoning.

Compared with Seventh Regiment National Guard Punch, this is less berry-led and more directly Port-driven.

Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.95) — George J. Kappeler 1895

1. Dissolve the sugar in a little water in a mixing-glass.
2. Add the lemon juice, port wine, brandy, curacoa, and fine ice; mix well.
3. Put all in a long thin glass, trim with fruit, and serve with straws.

Garnish: Fruit

Ice: Fine ice

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.177) — Harry Johnson 1900

1. Dissolve the sugar and lemon juice with a little water or selters in a large bar glass.
2. Add the port wine, brandy, and curacao.
3. Fill the glass with fine ice and stir well with a spoon.
4. Ornament the top with grapes, oranges, or similar fruit, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Fine ice

Nose

Port and citrus lead, with the curacao lifting the darker fruit into a more aromatic register.

Palate

This is a rich but cooling southern-style punch, darker than Johnson's fruitier rum punches and more vinous than his plain spirit mixes.

Finish

The finish is cool, wine-deep, and softly citrus-touched.

Summary

A port-led bar-glass punch preserving the southern decorated punch tradition in polished 1900 form.

Johnson specifically notes its popularity in the South, which is useful regional evidence. It helps keep regional punch culture visible inside the broader national canon.

The fruit dressing remains part of the identity, even though the base is darker and more vinous than many other bar-glass punches.

The Complete Buffet Manual or How to Mix Fancy Drinks by J. E. Sheridan (1901, p.60)

1. Fill with shaved ice, shake well, and dress the top with fruits in season.
2. Serve with a straw.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit.

Ice: Shaved ice

This is a useful named port-and-brandy punch checkpoint in a later service manual.

Sheridan keeps the drink in the fruit-dressed shaken punch line despite the wine-heavy base.

Daly's Bartenders' Encyclopedia by Tim Daly (1903, p.37)

1. Dissolve the sugar in a little seltzer and add the lime juice, brandy, port wine, orange curacoa, and fine ice.
2. Mix well with a spoon, ornament with fruit in season, and serve with straws.

Garnish: Fruit in season.

Ice: Fine ice

Daly explicitly ties this punch to the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans, making it a useful hotel-origin checkpoint.

This is a spooned iced punch, not a bowl recipe or shaken sour, and the fruit-dressed service matters.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.81)

1. Stir the sugar, lemon juice, seltzer, port wine, brandy, curacoa, and bitters well.
2. Fill the glass with shaved ice, trim with fruit, and serve with straws.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Shaved ice

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.57)

1. Combine the sugar, lemon juice, port wine, brandy, and fine ice, shake well, dress with fruit, and serve with a straw.

Ice: Ice

Bartenders' Manual by Bartenders Association of America (1913, p.39)

1. Stir with a spoon, ornament with fruit in season, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Fruit in season

Ice: Shaved ice

Cheerio! A Book of Punches and Cocktails by Charles (1928, p.41) — Cheerio 1928

1. Pour the dissolved sugar, Port wine, brandy, and lemon juice into a large glass.
2. Fill with shaved ice, stir well, ornament with fruits in season, and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Fruits in season and a straw.

Ice: Shaved ice

Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em by Stanley Clisby Arthur (1938, p.84)

1. Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a mixing glass.
2. Add the lemon juice, port, cognac, and curaçao, fill with fine ice, jiggle with a barspoon, and pour into a long thin glass.
3. Garnish with fruit, add a straw, and serve.

Garnish: Fruit