Swedish Punch (Svensk punsch) is a highly sweetened, slightly spicy liqueur created in Sweden in the eighteenth century. Swedish Punch is defined by the use of Indonesian Batavia arrack as its base spirit and dominant flavor. See arrack, Batavia. The liqueur’s bold taste and high sugar content evoke thoughts of some kind of unruly rum-punch concentrate, although its alcohol content is usually quite moderate, in the 25 percent range. See punch.
Swedish Punch consumption hit its heyday from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Originally made to order and served warm, the punch was best known as an accompaniment to yellow pea soup (ärtsoppa), followed by pancakes with strawberry jam and cream, a traditional Thursday dinner at Swedish universities.
An 1854 article in the New Monthly Magazine describes Swedish Punch as “a mixture of arrack, hock [German white wine], sugar, and a little water.” (As with many other hot punches, the citrus content is minimal and is provided, if present at all, by the peel rather than juice.) Another English traveler described the punch in 1858 as “a universal evening drink, and one of the most insidious ever invented, despite its agreeable flavor.”
By 1845, J. Cederlund Sønner commercialized a bottled version, after which the fashion turned to consuming it well chilled. The earliest known reference to Swedish Punch as an ingredient in mixed drinks comes from the 1905 Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide, where it is found in a highball. Its best-known uses, however, are in Hugo Ensslin’s 1917 Doctor Cocktail, with lime juice, and the excellent Diki Diki, with apple brandy and grapefruit juice, published by Robert Vermeire in 1922. See Ensslin, Hugo Richard; and Vermeire, Robert.
The craft cocktail movement of the early twenty-first century (and the associated reexamination of vintage recipes) spawned renewed interest in Swedish Punch. See craft cocktail. In 2011, Henrik Facile and Eric Seed of Haus Alpenz collaborated to create Kronan Swedish Punsch. Although not utilized during the golden age of tiki (1930s–1960s), its rum-forward, sweet and spicy characteristics have inspired modern craft tiki bartenders to use it in numerous recipes. See tiki.
“A Fortnight in Finnland.” New Monthly Magazine, January, 1854, 423–431.
“Punsch.” Spritmuseum Stockholm. https://spritmuseum.se/kunskap/dryckernas-historia/punsch/ (accessed March 12, 2021).
Simonson, Robert. “How About a Nice Swedish Punsch?” New York Times, May 19, 2011. https://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/how-about-a-nice-swedish-punsch/ (accessed March 12, 2021).
Taylor, Bernard. Northern Travel: Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Lapland, and Norway. London: Sampson Low, Son: 1858.
By: Matt Pietrek