Bowls of punch are the best answer to serving large groups of people at a party, as you put the effort in at the beginning, and then guests can help themselves to whatever delicious concoction you’ve made when their glasses run dry.

Cocktail historian David Wondrich has published the definitive guide to this most convivial category of drinks; imaginatively titled Punch, it’s a compendium of the best bowls to be made. Within it is the below drink, a recipe that was created by Charles Dickens. Yes: as well as being a wordsmith, Dickens took the business of crafting an excellent bowl of punch very seriously.

Wondrich sourced this recipe from a letter that the A Christmas Carol author wrote in 1847, and it’s a showstopper to say the least - seeing as it involves pyrotechnics. Setting fire to a large vat of alcohol in front of a party of friends is great fun, but be careful, do it sober, and take the necessary precautions!

Charles Dickens’ Punch

Glass: Tea cups

Garnish: None

Ingredients:

170g demerara sugar cubes such as Billington's
475ml rum (it's possible to use a combination of Navy-strength rum and lighter rum: 225ml Pusser’s Blue Label and 250ml Brugal Anejo)
300ml Courvoisier VSOP
1.2l boiling water
3 lemons

Method: Take a cast-iron enamel pot with a lid and peel the lemons into it, taking care not to remove to much of the pith. Add the sugar cubes and then the alcohol. Take a metal spoon, place some alcohol in it and then light the spoon carefully, allowing the alcohol to catch light. Gently lower it to the pan and let the flame catch. Leave the pan to burn for three minutes, then take the lid and put the fire out. Squeeze in the juice of the lemons, add the boiling water, stir and cover for five minutes, then stir again. Keep it on a low heat, and remove the lemon peel if it is going to sit for a few hours before being drunk.

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