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St. Charles Punch

1 teaspoon sugar

1 lemon—juice only

1 large shot of port wine

1 pony cognac brandy

1/3 teaspoon Curacao

Dissolve the sugar with a little water in a mixing glass. Add the lemon juice, the port wine, the cognac, and last the Curacao. Fill the glass with fine ice and jiggle with the bar spoon. Pour into a long thin glass, garnish with fruit, and serve with a straw.

Years ago this was a famed punch very much in demand at the celebrated St. Charles Hotel bar. Don’t omit the straw; this drink demands long and deliberate sipping for consummate enjoyment.

Orgeat Punch

1/2 shot of orgeat syrup

1 lemon—juice only

1/2 lime—juice only

1 large shot of rye whiskey

1 dash orange bitters

1 small shot of port wine

Mix all but the port in the order named in a tall 12-ounce glass. Fill with cracked ice to a finger-width of the top. Jiggle with a spoon until well frapped. Then float on top the pony of port wine … do not stir.

Said Sam Guarino, once the chief bartender at the Hotel Roosevelt bar, who originated this drink delight:

“The Orgeat Punch has two distinct flavors which register separately when trickling down your throat. First you taste the Oporto, and then you get the second rich taste of the orgeat-flavored whiskey mixture.”

Orgeat sirup, or sirop d’orgecut, is made from the milk of almonds and has long been a favorite flavoring and sweetening liqueur among the Creoles of New Orleans. It is not used as much today as in the past, but drink-mixers who like something different should cultivate its acquaintance again.

Arrack Punch

A large shot of date arrack

2 teaspoons bar sugar

2 dashes of lemon juice

Dissolve the sugar in a little water, add the lemon juice, then the arrack; fill the glass nearly full with shaved ice, and shake well. Strain into a glass and serve with a straw. Printed coasters may be appropriate to serve along with this festive punch.

Arrack is the fermented juice of the date palm, and is a name that was applied in Eastern countries to any spirituous liquor of native manufacture, especially ones distilled from the fermented sap of the coco-palm, or from rice and sugar fermented with coconut juice. Later the arrack imported from Bastavia and Japan was considered superior in concoct