Punch was first written about in 1632, in a letter from an East India Company man stationed in India, and it spread from the Company's ships and trading posts to London and then everywhere else. The popular story holds that the name comes from panch, five, for its five parts: spirit, sugar, citrus, water and spice. Some drinks historians doubt the derivation, but nobody doubts the drink. Its early spirit was arrack, distilled in South Asia from palm sap or rice, and a traveler in Surat in 1638 described a punch made with spirit, rose water, citron juice and sugar.

Our bowl keeps faith with that formula: lime zest rubbed into jaggery for depth, fresh lime juice, cold black tea for the water, cardamom and nutmeg for spice, and arrack or a good aged rum. It is bright, aromatic and dangerously easy to drink, so the measures are deliberately modest. The zero proof version, which loses only the spirit and none of the character, is the first variation.

The tea

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups (600 ml) boiling water
• 2 black tea bags
• 4 green cardamom pods

Method

1. Pour the boiling water over the tea bags and cardamom in the teapot or jug. Steep for 4 minutes, remove the tea bags, and leave the cardamom in. Cool for 30 minutes, then chill.

The punch

Ingredients

• 4 limes
• 1/2 cup (100 g) grated jaggery or dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) arrack
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 large block or 4 cups ice
• 8 thin lime wheels

Method

1. Grate the zest of 3 limes into the large bowl, taking only the green part. Add the jaggery and rub and press the zest into the sugar with the spoon or your fingertips for 3 to 4 minutes. Leave 10 minutes.
2. Squeeze the juice from all 4 limes and stir it into the sugar until the sugar dissolves.
3. Stir in the cold tea (strain out the cardamom), the arrack and the nutmeg. Taste: add a little more sugar if too sharp, or a splash of water if too strong.
4. Add the ice, preferably one large block made in a bowl or loaf pan, which melts slowly. Float the lime wheels and grate a little more nutmeg over the top.

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