Philadelphia Fish House Punch

A lazy afternoon, guaranteed.

philadelphia fish house punch recipe

As David Wondrich suggests in Imbibe!, Philadelphia Fish House Punch “deserves to be protected by law, taught in the schools, and made a mandatory part of every Fourth of July celebration.” The stuff was born from a group of rebellious (and most likely overheated) colonial Americans—fishermen, politicians, and Philadelphians of the like—who founded a pre-Revolution social club called the Schuylkill Fishing Company of Pennsylvania, also known as the State in Schuylkill. Its constituents actually declared the assemblage a sovereign state, and called themselves “citizens.” They still do today. Heady and heavy-handed, Fish House Punch is made for lazy summer afternoons (or—when heated and mulled—lazy, winter weekends), so we’d recommend refraining from following a punch bowl up with any sort of plans, angling or otherwise.

Ingredients

Servings: 18 - 20

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 lemons, peeled and peels reserved
  • 4 lemons, peeled and peels reserved
  • 4 cups black tea (or water)
  • 4 cups black tea (or water)
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • 4 cups rum, Jamaican
  • 4 cups rum, Jamaican
  • 2 cups cognac
  • 2 cups cognac
  • 1/2 cup peach brandy
  • 1/2 cup peach brandy

Garnish: lemon wheels and freshly grated nutmeg

Directions
  1. In a large bowl, add sugar and lemon peels, and rub together to release the citrus oils into the sugar. (This is called oleo-saccharum.)
  2. Allow oleo-saccharum to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Dissolve sugar with warm water or tea.
  4. Add rum, cognac, lemon juice and peach brandy and stir to mix.
  5. Add a block of ice to chill, and continue to add smaller pieces of ice for desired dilution. (See Editor's Note.)
  6. Garnish with lemon wheels and freshly grated nutmeg.
  7. Ladle into individual glasses.
Editor's Note

Freezing a Bundt pan or large bowl of water overnight is PUNCH's go-to shortcut for creating a block of ice. Punch is extremely versatile, so continue to add ice for desired dilution as well as additional garnish. If a hot punch is desired, skip the ice and add ingredients to a sauce pan to warm. Serve straight from the saucepan into tempered mugs.