The Art of Drinking with Join Jules and Your Favorite Uncle podcast

October 30, 2024 Ep. 90: C’mon baby light my fire – Charles Dickens Punch

Happy Halloween! We have a CROWD PLEASER for you today. The Charles Dickens punch, which is set ablaze before it is served and best believe, it’s good. Jules also reveals her Poison Apple-tini witch is hauntingly delicious. Uncle Brad digs into the history behind Charles Dickens’ punch, and it turns out... he was kind of a dickens. You’ll know what we mean when you listen.

Charles Dickens Punch

Glass: Heat resistant Punch Bowl (or heavy pot) and heat resistant glasses

Garnish: Lemon wheels and grated nutmeg

Ingredients:

Cognac 1.25 cups

Rum 2 cups

Black Tea 5 cups

4 Lemons (set 1 aside)

Demerara Sugar 0.75 cups

Directions

In your punch bowl add:

Thin peels (no pith) of 3 medium lemons (set lemons aside, you will juice these later)

¾ cup demerara sugar

Using your fingers, press/mash the sugar together with the lemon peels (oils will start to extract form the lemon peels)

Let sit for 30 min or as long as overnight (more flavor comes through the longer it its)

In a saucepan add:

5 cups water

10 ounces of black tea (could be loose tea or 10 tea bags)

Boil the tea for 3 – 5 minutes – it's ok, black tea is more oxidized and can handle the boiling. Remove from heat and set aside.

Juice 3 lemons (from step 1) and strain into a separate vessel, you don’t want pulp and seeds floating in your punch

Take a minute to warm your next two ingredients (you can combine) over low heat in a sauce pan (don’t let this catch fire... yet). Or add the ingredients to a large jar (enough to hold 3.25 cups of liquid) and let rest inside your saucepan of hot tea. You can also warm your ladle in here too, you will want it warm so it doesn’t cool off the spirits.

Now BACK TO YOUR PUNCH BOWL. Add:

2 cups Rum (warmed)

1 ¼ cup Cognac (warmed)

Ladel a small amount of the rum and cognac out and hold it away from the punch bowl. Light the contents of the ladle on fire. You should see a nice blue flame coming off the ladle. If it doesn’t light, your ingredients are still too cold.