Swedish Punsch Manhattan (Kronan Recipe)

 

Kronan contacted me and wanted me to be clear that their Swedish Punsch is made exclusively from rums and blended with arrack from Java where it is aged in teakwood. It has all the sweetness to be a cocktail unto itself, but mixed in a Manhattan, it is stellar. Here's to a great way to do a winter Manhattan.

The Belmont Farms bondied whiskey is extremely oaky when served neat. Mixing with it may be the best way to enjoy it because it is bold and hangs on with some of the most pungent flavors.

• 2 oz. American whiskey (Belmont Farms Bonded Virginia Whiskey used)
• 1/2 oz. Swedish Punsh (Kronan used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• Luxardo cherry garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry. 

Swedish Solution (Original Recipe)

 

There are a lot of vodka or gin cocktails with lemon juice and creme de cacao. The Kretchma comes to mind here. But there are many more that usually have some kind of a Russian theme. The thing is, creme de cacao and lemon juice have a mysterious flavor that comes across as tropical. It isn't especially Russian and most people can't identify that it is chocolate that supplies the sweetness to balance the sourness of the drink.

I submit now that this flavor is only enhanced by the addition of Swedish Punsch--and today I'm using Kronan, a real product from Sweden, not my homemade knock off. Swedish Punsch, with its cardamon and clove and hint of lemon, is a perfect way to lift this ordinary sour cocktail to a special crafty bar menu level. The spices make this the solution for your holiday cocktail needs. 

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin (Bloom used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (Kronan used)
• 1/2 oz. creme de cacao
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. brown sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe. 

Mrs. Doyle (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This quaint and familiar Sour cocktail with the unusual flavors of Swedish Punsch is named after an Irish actress in the sitcom, Father Ted. I'm not sure if the reference is correct, because it is obscure, but the coincidence is too strong to doubt. This is an Irish whiskey cocktail after all, and a good one. 

While Kronan is a present-day Swedish punsh available in some places in the US, it is possible to make it at home, which I did, with MurLarkey Lemon and Three Tea whiskey mixed with Jamaican rum and infused with lemon and cardamon. 

The addition of Swedish punsch adds a funky tropical flavor to the Sour cocktail: lots of lemon notes with cardamon, black tea (floral and smoky in this case because of the tea whiskey and IPA edition Jameson) and brown sugar sweetness. This was an easy cocktail to make, and an impressive one to serve on St. Patrick's Day.

• 2 oz. Redbreast 12-year Irish Whiskey (Jameson IPA edition used)
• 1/4 oz. Kronan Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup 

Combine all ingredients in a a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass. 

Swedish Ale Punch (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

This cocktail requires a hoppy ale like those pale ales of England. The grapefruit bitterness goes well with the grapefruit juice, but this is not a one-note cocktail. The Swedish punch and bourbon do a lot to sweeten the drink with oak and vanilla notes. My homemade Swedish punsch adds lemon and cardamon, as well as brown sugar syrup and smoky black tea. 

I want to point out that Einstok Brewery in Iceland also makes a pale ale that is very English in style with their glacier water source. It took me many tries to find an ale that would best represent this style of beer cocktail. And most American pale ales wouldn't work, but something familiar like Bass probably would. But Einstok pale ale was a good call, and it reinforces the Scandinavian theme of this cocktail. 

• 2 oz. Bourbon (Ancient Age used)
• 1 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice
• English-style pale ale (Einstok pale ale used)
• wedge of grapefruit

Combine bourbon, Swedish punsch and juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a pint glass full of fresh ice. Top with ale and stir. Garnish with the grapefruit wedge. 

Margaret Duffy

As best as I can guess, this is a cocktail made by or for its namesake, a contemporary author of a series of mystery novels. If that is the case, I bet there's a Nathan Wilkinson cocktail out there somewhere (there isn't) if I google myself. 

But I like the style of this cocktail, which resembles a Vieux Carre. The main ingredient is Swedish punsch, which is spiced with clove and cardamon. My homemade punsch is made with a spirit blend of half dark rum and one quarter each of MurLarkey distillery lemon and three tea whiskies. That means that there's citrus, earthy and floral tea notes, and dark sugar and oaked rum spirits. It's a cocktail in itself, but it is smothed out with a little cognac and helped along with more spice from Angostura bitters.

• 2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. cognac (Martel single distillery used)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• lemon zest twist

Combine all ingredients except lemon twist in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the lemon zest over the glass and drop it in.

 

Princess Marina

 

This classy cocktail is named after the princess of Greece and Denmark who married England's Prince George in 1934 to become the Duchess of Kent. The drink combines Scandinavian and British spirits in a sort of homage. It is also imbued with sweet and bitter fruit flavors from apple brandy and orange spirits.

Light orange notes and citrus spices characterize this cocktail. It is rich and thick, with lots of wine and herbal traction from gin, Swedish punsch's clove and cardamon, and Dubonnet Rouge's bitter oranges. Despite that, there is a lightness with whiffs of citrus zest and sweet oranges in the triple sec. It is a royal treat and one I imagine few have had the pleasure of enjoying. 

• 1 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. calvados (Laird's Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
• 1/2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade used)
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• orange zest twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist the orange zest over the glass and drop it in.

Grand Slam

 

I can't believe I've never tried this cocktail before, much less heard of it. Given how much I like Swedish punsch, you'd think the idea of a perfect punsch Manhattan would be way up on my to-drink list. 

This cocktail as I experienced was very close to a Manhattan because I used a Swedish Punsch recipe that I came up with on the fly. It is basically a cup of dark rum and a half cup each of MurLarkey distillery three tea whiskey and lemon whiskey. This mix sits on lemon slices and cardamon and cloves for three days and is later sweetened with a quarter cup of sugar syrup. 

So the Grand Slam is that Sweet Manhattan experience we are looking for in the winter, but anytime you have some Swedish punsch around, you should try it. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade with MurLarkey products version used)
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 oz. dry vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Greta Garbo (Bows)

 

Because of the popularity of Swedish Punsch at the beginning of the 20th Century, there were a handful of Greta Garbo cocktails named after the Swedish film star. I'm researching and trying them all with my homemade Swedish Punsch.

This cocktail, sometimes called the Greta Garbo Bows, is almost an exact copy of the better known (but still very obscure) Biffy Cocktail. That was one I found really too tart for my liking. Either Swedish Punsch used to be insufferably sweet, or the intention of the bartender was to create something so tart that it was a feature and not a bug of the recipe. See Ink Street, for examples of this. While I get the concept, I often have felt that intensely tart drinks with a low component of spirits were really the stuff of inexperienced Prohibition era bartenders who were trying to divert the drinker's attention from the alcohol. 

Perhaps that is what happened with this cocktail. According to legend Greta Garbo asked a bartender for something that hid the taste of alcohol. When she tried this drink, she bowed to him. It would be something special if it turned out to be true. The drink would be even better with a bit of sugar, though. So I have included it in the recipe just as I did with the Biffy Cocktail. 

• 1 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• sugar syrup to taste (1/2 oz. used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Kungsholm Cocktail

 

This is a lovely cocktail that plays up sweetness and spiciness with a nice balance and fruit. The theme for the ingredients and the flavor experience is Nordic, with Kungsholmen meaning "Kings Island" in Swedish and Swedish Punsch as the principal ingredient. This drink commemorates a small lake island in the heart of Stockholm!

For this cocktail, I made a rich raspberry syrup. I began by crushing raspberries in boiling water and adding sugar until the syrup was thick and sweet. Then it was a simple matter of straining out the solids and adding a teaspoon of vodka to act as a preservative. 

For the rest of the drink, I North Fork rye by Glacier Distillery and my homemade Swedish Punsch. By happy accident, there is a bit of smokey lapsang souchong tea mixed in with the Three Tea whiskey by MurLarkey distillery, which provided part of the liquor and flavor of this "quick" punsch recipe. 

• 1 oz. rye (North Fork used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. raspberry syrup
• several dashes Pernod (Ricard used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Boomerang (Swedish Punsch Version)

The Boomerang that I know is a Martini variation with a dash of Angoastura bitters and maraschino liqueur. This is more of a Manhattan variation. There's rye, dry vermouth, and Swedish punsch, which is a rum-based spirit with spices and citrus. (Note: the bottle pictured is actually my own recipe for Swedish punch, not the name on the lable.) The punsch added a sweetness that I was not accustomed to in a dry Manhattan, and it was a welcome change that made this cocktail unusual and more international than the standard New York drink. This is another cocktail recipe that I came across in researching Swedish punch and does not appear in any recipe book I've used.

• 1 oz. rye (North Fork rye used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1 oz. Swedish punshc (homemade used)
• 1 dash lemon juice
• 1 dash angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Diki-Diki

 

From the name, you might guess that this is a tropical drink. And I would say you're not quite wrong. Swedish punsch isn't exactly a Nordic ingredient--it's a recipe. A punch cocktail known as caloric or Swedish punch was popular at the beginning of the 20th century. Eventually it was bottled like a bottled cocktail or a punch ingredient that had wide distribution. Prohibition ended this, however, and now the only Swedish Punsch you can find is in the Scandinavian countries. (Note: this is not the modern Kronan Swedish Punsch but a recipe I've made that replicates it in a bottle with a fake lablel.)

The Diki Diki is very tropical in fact. Swedish punsch includes cloves and cardamon, so it has that equatorial bitter note. There's also black tea and lemon scent sweetened with brown sugar. The spirits are a combination of rums, but in this case, my recipe involves mixing MurLarkey lemon and three tea whiskies with rum. 

• 1 1/2 oz. applejack (Laird's applejack 86 used)
• 1 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade recipe used)
• 1 oz. grapefruit juice 

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Doctor Cocktail (#3)

 

I found this recipe in a photo of a 1900s vintage restaurant menu. Jotted under the name Dr. Cocktail were three simple ingredients in equal proportions. The only spirit is Swedish punsch, a bottled punch that was very popular a century ago. This concoction (the bottle is mine and the label is inaccurately displaying a popular Swedish punch brand that is not available near me) is a mix of rum and Batavia Arrack that is sweetened and spiced with cardamon and cloves. I made this version using flavored spirits as well as natural spices.

Note: Difford's Guide says that this recipe is also known as the Doctor #3.

• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (Homemade version used)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Viking Cocktail

What better combination of Nordic ingredients than aquavit and Swedish punsch for a drink called a Viking? I love how this lime sour is bursting with herbal flavors, both Scandinavian and equatorial. This may be my new favorite sour cocktail.

Swedish punsch is a rum based liqueur with clove, cardamon and lemon slices. There's black tea in there and sugar syrup too. It is sweet and doesn't require sweetening to balance the other ingredients.

• 1 1/2oz. Swedish punsch
• 1 oz. aquavit
• 1 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Swedish Lullaby

This cocktail sounds like it is a dessert drink or a nightcap. It is a lot more than that, and I think of it as a perfect accompaniment to the cherry blossom season or spring in general.

The Lullaby packs a one-two punch of Swedish ingredients and it just might put you to sleep. Swedish punsch is a rum-based liqueur with clove, cardamon and lemon that is very balanced. Lemon juice adds tartness. The whole thing is rounded with the nutty and dark cherry tasting Herring liqueur.

• 1 1/2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade recipe used)
• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (I think a cherry blossom or other flower garnish is appropriate with this drink.)

Hesitation Cocktail

An answer to the Hasty Cocktail, I guess. The Hesitation lives up to this name well because I can imagine the concern the drinker might have with mixing rye with equal parts Swedish punsch. The two things shouldn't go together, and yet they do. (See how I make Swedish punch here.)

Like so many rye drinks, a dash of lemon juice or zest pulls the flavors together. In this case, it is the lemon slices that are used to flavor Swedish punsch. The flavors are rich and wintery, but the drink remains light--and strong--vacillating between citrus and dry rye and sweet black tea and rums in Swedish punch.

• 1 1/2 oz. rye (Catoctin Creek Roundstone used)
• 1 1/2 oz. Swedish punch (homemade used)
• several dashes lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and double train into a chilled cocktail glass.

Waldorf

There are two cocktails named after the famous family hotels: the Waldorf Cocktail with bourbon and the Waldorf. I've not made this version with gin before because it's primary ingredient is Swedish punsch, something that you have to get from Sweden or make at home. It's not on the market here.

This is a sweet and sour cocktail with lots of herbal spices and dark black tea flavors. That is why I chose Vitae old tom gin for this. It is barrel aged and a little sweeter to cut through that lemon and provide balance against the Swedish punsch.

• 2 oz. Swedish punsch 
• 1 oz. gin (Vitae Old Tom used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

*Note the Tacoma, WA coaster representing Odd Otter Brewing Co.

Sumatra Planter's Punch

Swedish Punsch is a great shorthand for punch flavors all contained in a single bottle. My house-made Swedish Punsch contains several rums, lemons, cloves, and cardamom as well as black tea and demerara syrup.

Therefore, using a Swedish Punsch in a Planter's Punch cuts out a few ingredients you usually have to prepare: namely, lemon juice, and tea. This was a great, tasty punch cocktail that I was able to do without a blender but by shaking crushed ice. Much easier to make on the fly.

• 1 oz. golden rum (Vitae golden rum used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. 151-demerara rum

Combine all ingredients except demerara rum with cracked ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned Glass (snifter pictured). Float 151-proof rum on top and garnish at will.

Sumatra Planter's Punch

A Planter's Punch is always delicious and easy to drink. If you have friends over, it is easy to batch as well. But the many ingredients in these punches make them hard to whip up quickly at the bar, which is where this photo was taken. Luckily this recipe uses Swedish Punsch as a shorthand for other ingredients to make your life easier.

Swedish Punsch is a rum-based spirit flavored with lemon, cardamon and clove. It is commercially available in Scandinavia, but not easy to find in the states. I have a homemade recipe, though. The rest of the drink falls out in much the same order as a typical Planter's Punch.

• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch
• 1 oz. Gold Rum (Vitae used)
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. 151-proof Demerara rum 

Mix all ingredients except Demerara rum with cracked ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend briefly to combine and pour into an Old Fashioned glass or large balloon goblet. Drizzle 151-proof rum on top and garnish at will. 

Hot Swedish Punsch

This hot black tea cocktail is perfect for winter with its clove and cardamon spices and exotic rums. Swedish Punsch is a Scandanavian treat that was once available commercially worldwide, but now can only be found in its home country. The Hot Punsch is simply that, heating and serving the liquor hot. But if you have to make this drink from scratch as I did, there are a lot more steps to it than that. You'll need Batavia Arrack.

Batavia Arrack is one of the main ingredients in many punches of yesteryear. It is difficult to come by, but it is finding its way back to prominence with the cocktail and punch fad of late. Once you have it and some gold rum you can make the recipe that I posted a while back.

Now it is simply a matter of heating the entire punch and serving it in warm mugs with a lemon slice garnish. I did a nifty clove studded lemon slice that worked out nicely.

Biffy Cocktail

This cocktail was an epic journey for me. I had to acquire the ingredients to make Swedish Punsch, a cocktail in itself that used to be sold bottled and can now only be found in Scandinavia. 

I got the recipe from several I found online and made adjustments for the strength of the flavors I was working with. Central to this recipe is Batavia Arrack--a rice yeast cane sugar infusion from Indonesia that is itself difficult to find. The recipe for this is already posted earlier. Then I went about making this cocktail several times.

The first Biffy Cocktail I made was with Icelandc Vor, a heavily barley tasting gin from Iceland (shown above.) This might have been overkill, and I feel it covered over the flavor of the Swedish Punsch. On second go, I felt that Vitae Modern Gin (right) with its rum base and funky sugar smell did the drink the best justice. I also added a touch of sugar to balance the lemon juice, which also has a way of covering things, especially since it was a lot of work getting the lemon essence into the Swedish Punch without using juice.

Lastly, I don't know why such a good drink has such a bad name. Biffy is the old fashioned term for the outhouse. That's cute, but it doesn't speak well of what is really a complex cocktail. 

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch (homemade used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar (recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.