This recipe is very similar to (and may, in fact, be nearly
identical to -- I'm on the road and can't check to be certain) my
Uncle Arthur Gordon's Chatham Artillery Punch recipe in the Christ
Episcopal Church cookbook.
It should be put in sturdy crocks, covered with several layers of
cheesecloth to keep bugs out of it, and put in a nice dark room AT
ROOM TEMPERATURE, NOT REFRIGERATED (which in Chatham County could
range into the nineties, depending on the season) to let its
ingredients get properly acquainted for AT LEAST SIX WEEKS. [HINT:
The purpose of all that fruit and brown sugar is not to sweeten
this brew but to add fuel for it's kick to grow! Refrigerating it
would slow that process to the point of ineffectiveness -- not a
good thing.] Of course, it may be tasted from time to time along
the way (connoisseurs were reputed to have built revolving rooms
for this purpose) but, fair warning, no amount of tasting will make
one immune from its effects!
One may substitute strong black tea for the green tea.
Maraschino cherries, please, drained or not, your choice. I put in
twice the number of drained ones this recipe calls for, then put in
fresh ones and fresh canned unsweetened pineapple on the day of
serving.
A pint of Benedictine in this recipe's proportions, added with the
brandy is excellent.
I reduce the gin and the brandy to 2-3 quarts apiece.
The wine should be a fine madeira, not catawba. Catawba was a poor
man's substitute for the imported madeira that improved from its
European origins by traveling by sailing ship over the Atlantic and
by further aging in Savannah area wine cellars. The catawba wine
was homemade from local grapes and does not compare with the fine
madeiras of old. However, it was popularized during the Civil War
era when the Artillery became a unit of the Confederate Army and
shipments of wine from Europe were halted by the Union
blockade.
The amount of champagne to use is definitely a matter of personal
taste. I think this recipe has it about right. Some local
restauranteurs and families double the amount, while some families
add only about half of what this calls for. Too little and you rob
the potion of its accelerant. Too much and you dilute its kick and
the taste becomes overly dry.
Ice is best a block or ring in the punchbowl with the chilled punch
served sans ice by the punch cupful. (More than two punch cups is
considered treading dangerously into the land of no return.)
However, if you're into bottling up your finished punch (without
the champagne) and serving it over time, it's fine to add the
champagne at each serving and put it over ice.
It's natural for it to look muddy. It turns a truly horrid color if
you try to dye it green for St. Patrick's Day -- but it still
tastes great! I suggest dying some pineapple green and adding green
maraschino cherries instead of red ones instead of coloring the
punch itself.
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