Chatham Artillery Punch (Georgia)

The epic, party-starting, punch-to-end-all-punches is Chatham Artillery Punch. In the mid-nineteenth century, an all-volunteer Savannah regiment called the Republican Blues, organized in 1808 and stationed at Fort Jackson, visited Macon. The modus operandi of many of these old Savannah units was as much social and fraternal as military, so the Blues were greeted with much fanfare by the Chatham Artillery unit. An obliging local patriot by the name of A.H. Luce "proposed to brew a new punch in honor of the Blues," and the Chatham Artillery Punch was born.

There are a variety of recipes to be found for this punch - all different from this original, robust version - primarily because successive generations found its intoxicating power a little too, well, intoxicating. As Wondrich notes in this quotation from the headnote on a 1907 recipe: "Experience has taught the rising generation to modify the receipt of their forefathers to conform to the weaker constitutions of their progeny." (Ouch.) Most modernized Chatham Artillery recipes are weaker than the original formula, which is certainly strong enough to stand up to an artillery regiment. Or two. This is the original.

2 cups (16 oz) lemon juice, freshly squeezed (12 lemons)
2 cups raw sugar
1 (26 oz) bottle bourbon or rye (750 mL)
1 (26 oz) bottle Cognac (750 mL)
1 (26 oz) bottle dark Jamaican rum (750 mL)
3 (26 oz) bottles Champagne or other sparkling wine (3x750 mL)
5 lb bag cracked ice
nutmeg

Lemon Mixture:
Using a vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel the lemons, being careful to remove only the yellow peel and not the bitter white pith.

Place the peels in a bowl, add the sugar and muddle to combine. Set aside for at least an hour, to let the flavours combine.

While the lemon peel is resting, juice the lemons to make two cups lemon juice.

After the lemon peel has rested, add lemon juice to the bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Strain the mixture into an empty 750 mL bottle. Add water to the bottle to fill, seal it, give it a little shake and refrigerate this shrub until you're ready to make your punch.

Punch:
Fill a 2-3 gallon bucket or bowl with crushed ice or ice cubes. Add the lemon-sugar mixture and the bourbon, Cognac and rum. Stir and add the Champagne. Taste and adjust for sweetness.

To serve, fill your large (2.5 gallon) punch bowl with cracked ice. (At this point, move your punch bowl to its party-time location, as it will be very difficult to move when it's full of punch.)

Pour the shrub and all of the bottles of cognac, bourbon, rum and sparkling wine onto the ice. Stir to combine. Serve.

Grate nutmeg over each glass and serve.

Makes 25-30 (6 oz) drinks.