Chatham Artillery Punch
- 20m Prep Time
- 0sCook Time
- 1h 20mReady In
About twenty 6-ounce servings This is the original artillery punch, as relayed by David Wondrich in his exquisite book, Punch: The Delights (and Dangers) of the Flowing Bowl. This recipe calls for making what is referred to as an oleo saccharum: a mixture of lemon peels macerated with sugar until the peels release their oils.
Let's Prepare
Collect
Gather these ingredients — no prep needed yet.
- 1 ¾ cups VSOP Cognac
- 1 ¾ cups bourbon
- 1 ¾ cups Jamaican rum
- 6 lemons
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown or demerara sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice
- Two 750ml bottles brut Champagne, chilled
Let's Cook
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Step 1.
Add to a large jar or bowl and chill in the refrigerator or freezer: 1 ¾ cups VSOP Cognac; 1 ¾ cups bourbon; 1 ¾ cups Jamaican rum
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Step 2.
Meanwhile, using a Y-shaped vegetable peeler, pull off strips of zest (getting as little white pith as possible) from: 6 lemons
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Step 3.
Place the strips in a large nonreactive bowl and add: ¾ cup sugar; ¼ cup packed light brown or demerara sugar
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Step 4.
Muddle the zest and sugar vigorously until the sugar looks like wet sand, then cover and let sit at warm room temperature until the oils in the zest have nearly liquefied the sugar, about 1 hour. Add: 1 cup lemon juice
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Step 5.
Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved, then strain, discarding the lemon zest, and refrigerate until well chilled. Transfer the chilled lemon-sugar mixture to a large punch bowl. Fill the punch bowl half full with finely cracked ice and add the chilled mix of liquors, along with: Two 750ml bottles brut Champagne, chilled
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Step 6.
Serve immediately.