Skip to main content
Drink

Gin Punch

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and lemon rind.

  2. Add the syrup and stir well.

  3. Slowly pour in the seltzer water and mix 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 main alcoholic flavour of the punch.
Maraschino liqueur
Adds sweetness and a subtle cherry-almond aroma to the punch.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the punch and balances the sweetness.
Syrup
Adds sweetness to balance the lemon's acidity and the spirits.
German seltzer water
Adds carbonation, giving the punch lightness and fizz.

The step that matters

Slowly pour in the seltzer water and mix gently. Carbonation is lost quickly when stirred vigorously or poured fast, so the punch goes flat. A slow pour and gentle mixing keep the bubbles in the drink.

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.

You might also like

Orange SyrupOrange Syrup47 recipesLemon WheyLemon Whey33 recipesLemon WineLemon Wine31 recipesOrgeat SyrupOrgeat Syrup13 recipes