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Champagne Punch

A citrus punch made with lime rind, brandy, rum, maraschino, champagne, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Champagne Punch

Why it works: Rum and champagne match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Champagne Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the lime rind in hot French brandy for 24 hours.

  2. Add the lime juice and sugar to the mixture.

  3. Stir in the rum, maraschino, champagne, and water.

  4. Let it stand for 6 to 8 days in a vessel.

Finish

  1. Strain it clear through a flannel bag.

  2. Bottle and cork it well.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + champagnetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together137 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  3. Brandy + champagnetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together169 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Lime + rumtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together412 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lime rind
Releases aromatic oils into the brandy, giving the punch its fragrance.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that balances the sweetness of the sugar and spirits.
Sugar
Sweetens the punch and balances the acidity of the lime juice.
French brandy
Extracts flavour from the lime rind and gives the punch its spirit base.
Champagne
Adds sparkle and a light, dry character to the punch.

The step that matters

Let it stand for 6 to 8 days in a vessel. The lime rind needs time in the spirit to release its oils and flavour, and the blend needs to mellow before it is strained and bottled. Rushing this step leaves the punch harsh and under-flavoured.

Swap the lime

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

  1. Pineapplefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Limethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sugar, rum, champagne. 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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