Post #281717 by PremEx on Mon, Jan 29, 2007 5:42 PM

Did a search here on Tiki Central and really didn't find any dedicated thread on this classic (gulp) non-alcoholic tropical beverage, so here we go... :wink:

A favorite of many a kid at many a neighborhood backyard luau back in the 1950's and 1960's...was that great deep red and mysteriously sweet drink...Hawaiian Punch!!

Way back then they didn't sell Hawaiian Punch ready-to-drink or anything. You could only purchase it in large glass bottles as super-thick gooey concentrate. It was marketed then as stuff you'd measure out in order to make a whole punchbowl full of "Fruit Juicy Hawaiian Punch" by just adding water to the concentrate. Folks also used it as a topping for ice cream and other "exotic" desserts.

What we did as kids to make individual servings was to just pour some out into a glass, and fill it with water and ice. We loved Hawaiian Punch!

Hawaiian Punch in this concentrate form was really cheap...and usually lasted a family a long time because it really was super concentrated and a little went a long way.

Later they started advertising on television and created the famous animated character "Punchy"...who would go around and slug anyone that answered his invitation to a "nice Hawaiian Punch"...with an affirmative. We thought he was a pretty funny guy, that Punchy. :)

Pre-made ready-to-drink large cansof Hawaiian Punch didn't start to appear on store shelves until much later...probably in the 1960's sometime. And individual cans and bottles later still.

Anyway, just today I happened by a convenience store and purchased and tried a small bottle of Hawaiian Punch...and was surprised that even after decades since last having one...how good it tasted and how its "original" flavor (now called "Fruit Juicy Red") tasted the same as all those years ago. It's very sweet, but there's always been something very interesting going on at the back end of that puppy...that I've never been able to put my finger on.

Just thought good 'ol Hawaiian Punch deserved a small tip 'o the straw hat here. And I was also wondering if any of the classic tropical alcoholic cocktails use Hawaiian Punch in their recipes?

Thanks.

[ Edited by: PremEx 2007-01-30 17:41 ]