Tract · Cocktails

Punch · Built in glass · Historical · complexity 3/5

Kirschwasser Punch

A kirschwasser punch lifted by maraschino and served with fruit and straws.

kirsch · maraschino · citrusy · cold · party · after-dinner

Served in Mixing-glass service. Ice: Fine ice.

Family

Variants (6)

Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.89) — George J. Kappeler 1895

0.5 half lemonLemon juice (fresh) — lemon juiceacid
1 tablespoonsugar — fine sugarbase
fruit — fruitgarnish
1 jiggerKirschwasser modifier
0.5 ponyMaraschino — maraschinomodifier
ice — fine iceother
  1. Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a mixing-glass.
  2. Add the lemon juice, maraschino, Kirschwasser, and fine ice; mix well.
  3. Trim with fruit and sip with straws.

Garnish: Fruit

Ice: Fine ice

New and Improved Bartenders' Manual by Harry Johnson (1900, p.203) — Harry Johnson 1900

Lemon juice (fresh) — lemon or lime juiceacid
0.5 tbspsugar — sugarbase
Seltzer water — water or seltzerdilution
Seasonal fruit — fruitgarnish
1.5 wine-glassKirschwasser modifier
yellow chartreuse — yellow Chartreusemodifier
ice — iceother
  1. Dissolve the sugar, citrus, and dashes of yellow Chartreuse with a little water or a squirt of seltzer in a large bar glass.
  2. Fill the glass with ice.
  3. Add the kirschwasser and mix well with a spoon.
  4. Ornament the top with fruit in season and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Ice

Nose
Cherry eau-de-vie and herbal liqueur give the punch a sharper and more fragrant nose than the standard brandy line.
Palate
This is a cool decorated punch, but the kirsch and yellow Chartreuse make it more aromatic and less straightforwardly fruity than many neighboring entries.
Finish
The finish is lightly herbal, cherry-stoned, and brisk.
Summary
A kirsch-led decorated punch that widens the ontology's stone-fruit and eau-de-vie branch.

Kirschwasser Punch is a useful reminder that the nineteenth-century punch family was not limited to rum, brandy, whiskey, and wine. Johnson still preserves lighter continental spirit branches inside the same decorated glass-service grammar.

The yellow Chartreuse acts as a seasoning accent. The drink should stay punch-like rather than becoming a liqueur-forward oddity.

The Complete Buffet Manual or How to Mix Fancy Drinks by J. E. Sheridan (1901, p.56)

2.5 dasheslemon juice — Sheridan gives 2 or 3 dashes.acid
1 teaspoonfulsugar — powdered sugarbase
3.5 dashesChartreuse — Sheridan gives 3 or 4 dashes.modifier
1 wine glassKirschwasser modifier
  1. Fill three-quarters of the glass with shaved ice and add the ingredients.
  2. Dress with fruits and serve with a straw.

Garnish: Fruit.

Ice: Shaved ice

This is a useful checkpoint for kirsch-based punch service surviving inside the mixed-drink field.

Despite the contents note, the actual recipe is for an immediate fruit-dressed bar-glass service.

Jack's Manual by J. A. Grohusko (1910, p.62)

1 lemonlemon juice acid
0.5 teaspoonfulsugar base
fruit — seasonal fruitgarnish
0.25 portionChartreuse modifier
0.75 portionKirschwasser modifier
2 glassesice — cracked iceother
  1. Mix the sugar, lemon juice, Chartreuse, Kirschwasser, and cracked ice well with a spoon.
  2. Ornament with fruits in season and serve with straws.

Garnish: Seasonal fruit

Ice: Cracked ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.39)

2 dasheslime or lemon juice acid
0.5 large bar glassice base
1 dashseltzer dilution
fruit — Trim with fruit.garnish
1 glassKirschwasser modifier
3 dashesyellow chartreuse modifier
0.5 tablespoonfulpowdered sugar sweetener
  1. Stir the ice, powdered sugar, lime or lemon juice, yellow Chartreuse, seltzer, and kirschwasser well in a large bar glass.
  2. Fill up with ice, trim with fruit, and serve with straws.

Garnish: Fruit

Ice: Ice

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.51)

3 dashlemon juice — Lemon juiceacid
1 tablespoonsugar — Sugarbase
fruit — Fruitgarnish
1.5 wine-glassKirschwasser — Kirschwassermodifier
1 glassice — Fine iceother
  1. Combine the sugar, lemon juice, kirschwasser, and fine ice, dress with fruit, and serve with a straw.

Ice: Ice

See also: Curacoa Punch, Brandy Punch

Sheridan labels it 'for bottling' in the contents, but the page itself gives a direct served drink recipe, so it is retained here as a served punch.