Red Barrel Punch

The Punch comes from India where "paantsch" means five in Hindi, for the five components of the original formula (spirit, citrus, sugar, water and spice). The word “punch” first appeared in print in 1832, but was introduced in Europe thanks to British sailors in the 1650s. It was then adopted by the British aristocracy, who spread the word to all the courts of Europe during the 18th Century. The first recipe of a "brandy punch" was published in 1702 in The Hague in the Dictionnaire Royal François-Anglois. The punch translated well overseas and became very successful in the United States.