Poncha Cocktail Recipe
Madeira's punchy trio of sugar cane spirit, lemon and honey — sweet, sharp and deceptively strong.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 22%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Sugar cane spirit (aguardente de cana)50 ml (1.7 oz)
- Fresh lemon juice25 ml (0.8 oz)
- Honey2 tsp
How to Make It
- Stir the honey and lemon juice in a glass until the honey dissolves.
- Add the sugar cane spirit.
- Work it vigorously with a wooden muddler until frothy and emulsified.
- Serve at room temperature or over a little ice.
- Garnish with lemon peel.
Garnish
Lemon peel
What it tastes like
The sweetness is pronounced, it smells of lemon and lime peel and it hits hard.
The technique
Muddling. Fruit, herbs or sugar get pressed at the bottom of the glass. With leaves like mint the goal is to press, not to shred: two or three pushes is plenty, more releases chlorophyll and turns the drink grassy and bitter. Sugar and firm fruit, on the other hand, really do get crushed.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Fresh lemon juice
- Freshly squeezed lemon; one lemon gives 30-40 ml. It can swap with lime, but lemon is softer and less aromatic, so use a touch more.
- Honey
- Honey will not disperse in a cold liquid; turn it into a syrup first, three parts honey to one part hot water. Dark honeys bury the spirit's aroma — a pale one is safer.
The Story
The traditional drink of Madeira, long taken by islanders as a folk remedy for colds and still mixed with a wooden muddler called a caralhinho.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Poncha mixed?
- It is muddled and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a Poncha?
- Roughly 22% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a Poncha be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Poncha hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.