About the USS Richmond Punch Cocktail
All hands on deck for this historic quadruple-liquor punch.
Ingredients in the USS Richmond Punch Cocktail
- 6 Lemons
- 1.5 cups Superfine sugar
- 1 pint (16 oz) Strong-brewed black tea (use 2 teabags)
- 1 pint (16 oz) Dark Jamaican rum (Smith & Cross or Myers’s)
- 1 pint (16 oz) VS or VSOP-grade cognac (Martell)
- 1 pint (16 oz) Ruby port (Graham’s Six Grapes)
- 4 oz Grand Marnier
- 1.5 liters Club soda or Champagne
Garnish: Thin lemon slices and grated nutmeg
Glass: Punch
How to make the USS Richmond Punch Cocktail
Place a 2- or 3-quart bowl of water in the freezer and let freeze overnight. Peel 6 lemons with a swivel-bladed vegetable peeler, trying not to get any of the white pith. In bowl, muddle the peels with 1.5 cups of superfine sugar and let stand for an hour for the lemon oil to leach out. Juice the peeled lemons and add the juice to the sugar mixture, along with the tea. Strain out the peels and pour into a 1-gallon container. Add the rum, cognac, port and Grand Marnier, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. To serve, unmold the block of ice into a 2-gallon punch bowl. Add the chilled punch stock and top off with the club soda (or, if feeling dangerous, Champagne). Garnish with grated numeg and 1 seeded lemon sliced thinly. Serves 20.
Interesting recipe, but what is the story behind it? Wich of the three USS Richmonds was it named after?
There were four “Richmonds” if you also count the CSA-ironclad “CSN Richmond”. Still: why a caribian rhumpunch named after these ships?
It’s most likely named after the 1860 USS Richmond which captured New Orleans. After the Civil War it was sent to the West Indies squadron which is likely where the rum comes into play.