#swedishdrinks

Swedish Punch

I have only just assembled the ingredients for Swedish Punsch, a rum-based lemon and spice cocktail that is designed to be enjoyed warm. This isn't surprising because the Scandinavian countries have a lot of hot drinks to battle the cold climate. What is surprising is that a Duch and East Indian spirit is integral to this particular punch drink. Batavia-Arrack isn't a North African Arrack like those anise flavored grain spirits similar to Metaxa and Ouzo. Batavia-Arrack is a cane sugar distillate that uses fermented rice to kick off the fermentation. It is close to cachacas from Brazil, which are also cane sugar rums, in that it is a little funky and sweet. There's almost a rice-like bitterness in the Batavia-Arrack which I have to think has to be a part of the reason it is included with Jamaican rum, which is also very flavorful. Batavia-Arrack is hard to find. I searched many specialty shops before finding this bottle.

So after looking at a lot of recipes that vary in size from a single serving to a whole liter, I decided to go full on and make a big batch with lots of Arrack because I'm not going to use the Arrack for much else. Swedish Punsch is useful in many recipes that will appear soon.

Glogg

Glogg is a Swedish hot wine drink with lots of booze and tasty roasted snacks served in it. It differs from English mulled wines in having akavit in it, as well as port, and the raisins and nuts that are cooked in it are left in the mug to be eaten with a small spoon.

This recipe is strong and meant to serve 10, but feel free to make an individual portion. One tricky thing about the large recipe is how to scorch a pound of sugar cubes over a steaming pot of potentially combustible liquor. It is logistically hard to do over such a large surface (using a mesh screen of some kind, the recipe says.) It is also dangerous, as lighting a bottle of high test akavit is likely to blow you right out of the kitchen and burn your house down. I'm not kidding!

Better and safer to put sugar cubes on spoons over individual servings. That way the fire is small in size and can be enjoyed by each person who gets a glass of Glogg.