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Drink

Punch

A chilled punch made with rum, brandy, water, milk, nutmeg, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the punch

  1. In a large bowl, combine the rum, brandy, and water.

  2. Grate the nutmeg into the milk and heat until boiling.

  3. Pour the hot milk into the rum mixture, stirring continuously until well mixed.

  4. Add the sugar and stir until fully dissolved.

Rest and strain

  1. Let the punch stand for 12 hours.

  2. Strain the mixture through a flannel bag until clear, repeating if necessary.

  3. Serve immediately or bottle for later use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Rum + nutmegtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Rum + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Milk
Curdles with the alcohol and then filters out, leaving the punch clearer and smoother.
Fine loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the strong alcohol and acidity of the punch.
Rum
Provides the main spirit flavour and alcohol base of the punch.
Brandy
Adds body and fruity, warm depth alongside the rum.

The step that matters

Pour the hot milk into the rum mixture, stirring continuously. Adding hot milk to alcohol makes it curdle, carrying impurities into solids. Stirring keeps the milk evenly dispersed so curds form uniformly and can be removed when straining.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rum, brandy, milk, sugar):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against rum, brandy, milk, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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