Clinton Cawood's latest dust-off of an antiquated classic is the Fish House Punch - it's a lot nicer than its sounds.
The Schuylkill Fishing Company, established in 1732 and thought to be the oldest active social club in America, is responsible for a drink that has endured, mostly unchanged, for well over two centuries.
The Fish House Punch has been a staple at the club, also known as the State in Schuylkill, over the ages and outside of it too.
Deceptively simple, and highly drinkable, the Fish House consists of rum, cognac, lemon, sugar and peach brandy, although the latter can be difficult to source nowadays.
Modern incarnations get around this in a variety of ways. The carbonated, on-tap version at London bar All My Gods, for example, makes use of a peach tea concentrate created by Lipton and Soda Stream.
“We chose to use a product that delivers an immediate hit of nostalgia for a flavour people have tasted a thousand times before,” says general manager Jacob Drew.
Fish House Punch
(All My Gods, London)
Glass: Highball
Garnish: Lemon wedge
Method: Single serve quantities below. Multiply by 100 for a standard 20-litre Cornelius keg.
20ml Takamaka Blanc rum
20ml Courvoisier VSOP cognac
10ml Briottet Crème De Pêche
5ml Lipton Peach Tea Concentrate
5ml 10% citric acid solution
100ml water