Martha Washington's Rum Punch Recipe

I located the following historic recipe on the web - Martha Washington's own recipe for rum punch, apparantly obtained from handwritten notations in her diary.

It is likely a bit weaker than the rum drinks we are used to today, as only about 25% of the volume is alcohol. I wonder how many people in Virginia at the time were able to obtain fresh orange juice on a regular basis?

Vern

Martha Washington’s Rum Punch (Serving 6-10)

3 oz. White Rum
3 oz. Dark Rum
3 oz. Orange Curaçao
4 oz. Simple Syrup
4 oz. Lemon Juice
4 oz. Fresh Orange Juice
3 Lemons quartered
1 Orange quartered
½ Tsp. Grated nutmeg
3 Cinnamon sticks (broken)
6 Cloves
12 oz. Boiling water

In a container, mash the orange, lemons, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmeg. Add the syrup, lemon, and orange juices. Pour the boiling water over the mixture in the container. Let cool for a few minutes.
When cool, add the White Rum, Dark Rum, and Orange Curaçao. Strain well into a pitcher or punch bowl (to remove all of the spice marinade) and serve over ice in goblets and decorate with wheels of lemon and orange. Dust with a little nutmeg and cinnamon

"martha washington...every day when george would come home, she'd have a big fat bowl waiting for him....she was a hip, hip chick, man...."
slater, 'dazed and confused'

TofuJoe and I made this recipe. We tried it first with Pussers and it was crap. A nice concoction was with Appleton White and Trader Vics Dark. Very nice indeed.

We also found that, if you want a spicier mix, make sure you muddle the quartered citrus and spices alone, before adding the juices and simple syrup.

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2006-07-29 00:46 ]

As my nane wahine says, we did indeed make this punch and served it to a backyard full of rum drinking hooligans to rather positive reviews.

Here's how it ended up:

Start by ignoring the amounts called for of rum and curacao

We used 5x the recipe of all the other ingredients. Definitely muddle the spices with the quartered fruit before adding the juices and water. This was set up on the stove top in a big ol' pot and left to cool for a few hours. After that we carefully strained the mix (we were going to serve it from an oak barrel, so no pulp!) then put it back on the stove to reduce. Bring it to a boil for about 5 minutes, then let it simmer for another 10, then let it cool. Once cool, bottle it, label it "Mad Martha's Mix" and put it in the fridge over night (the spices settle up real nice after it cools for a night).

For the punch served at the party, the following mix ratio was used (we wanted to keep the punch "not too strong")
3oz Mad Martha's Mix
1/2 oz Trader Vics Authentic Dark Rum
1/2 oz Cruzan light Rum
1/4 oz Orange curacao (we used DeKuypers)

The total punch ended up being
100 oz Mad Martha's Mix
15 oz TV Dark
15 oz Cruzan light
8 oz Orange curacao

Poured into an oak barrel and self served with ice.

Anyone who wanted a kicker could ask for a float.

Personally I like the drink mixed as follows

Mad Martha's Punch
3oz Mad Martha Mix
1 oz Trader Vics Dark
1 oz Cruzan light
1/4 or 1/2 oz curacao

Stir contents in a glass and top off with crushed ice. A mint garnish is nice, but not necessary.

Thanks for the recipe!

I was one of those "rum drinking hooligans" and I can attest -- it was delish! The spiciness made me think it might also taste yummy warmed up in the winter.