Charleston Light Dragoon's Punch

From the Charleston Historical Society, and one of the signature drinks at Sean Brock's Husk, Charleston Light Dragoon's Punch has been one of my absolute favorite drinks for years. It was time to make it myself.

I know there's been a lot of chatter out there about Husk over the years -- which is frankly, why I've never bothered to review it.  Yes, I've been. Yes, I have thoughts about Husk. No, I'm not telling you them here.

With one exception: If you're in Charleston, SC and you happen to go to Husk, order the Charleston Light Dragoon's Punch.

Deceptively refreshing, this punch will knock you out in a heartbeat if you aren't careful.  The original recipe calls for a bit more sugar, but I scaled it back in my recipe and I think it turned out absolutely perfectly.

This is a LARGE BATCH cocktail, to put it mildly.  You could definitely scale it back to make a few drinks for friends, or you can do what I did: Wait for your company to hire a mechanical shark ( like a mechanical bull, but it's a shark! ), throw a huge party in the middle of January that celebrates Summer, and make a batch of punch for your 50 closest friends.  This is a real thing that happened, and you can check out a video of the shark here.

Charleston Light Dragoon's Punch

Original recipe from the Charleston Historical Society. Adapted from the Husk recipe from Serious Eats at http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/12/charleston-light-dragoons-punch-recipe.html

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Alcohol, Punch

Prep Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours

Servings: 40 servings

Author: Basil and Bubbly

Ingredients

• 3 cups raw sugar
• 2 ½ cups fresh lemon juice about 23 lemons
• 3 ½ quarts black tea brewed according to package directions
• 3 quarts Brandy
• 750 ml rum
• ½ pint Peach Brandy
• peels from 6 lemons
• 2 liters of soda water

Instructions

• Combine sugar, lemon juice, tea, and lemon peels in a large bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
• Let cool to roughly room temperature.
• Add brandy, rum, and peach brandy. Chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
• Add soda water immediately before serving.
• Serve over ice.

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