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Drink

Gin Punch

A chilled gin punch made with old gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, lemon rind, syrup, German seltzer water, and ice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Gin and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 127 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Gin Punch

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pitcher, combine the old gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, lemon rind, and syrup.

  2. Stir well to mix all the ingredients.

  3. Add the German seltzer water and stir gently.

  4. Serve over ice.

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. Gin + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Lemon + syruptop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Gin + lemontop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together306 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Old gin
Provides the spirit base and most of the punch's alcoholic strength and flavor.
Maraschino liqueur
Adds sweetness and a subtle cherry-almond aroma that rounds out the spirit.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the punch and balances the sweetness of the syrup and liqueur.
Syrup
Adds sweetness to balance the acidity of the lemon juice and the bitterness of the gin.
German seltzer water
Adds carbonation, giving the punch lightness and a lively fizz.

The step that matters

Add the seltzer water gently. Carbonation escapes quickly when stirred vigorously, so stirring gently after adding the seltzer keeps the punch fizzy and lively.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gin, syrup):

  1. Limefits about as well
  2. Lemonthe original
  3. Vanillafits about as well
  4. Cherryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against gin, syrup. 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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