Yuletide Cup of Cheer: Classic, Contemporary Christmas Punches and Wines
Gather round the punch bowl and fill your cup. It's time to welcome the holidays with a traditional cup of cheer or a pour of Port.
Time to toast the holidays. “I’ll have a flaming rum punch. No make it mulled wine heavy on the cinnamon, light on the cloves,” the holiday drink request of Clarence (angel second class) in the film It’s A Wonderful Life. Holiday libations such as these have filled countless holiday cups for centuries. On second thought make that millenniums considering mulled wine’s basic recipe has been traced to ancient Rome before it became associated with Christmas as the holiday drink of choice, thanks to Charles Dickens who mentions it in his timeless tale, A Christmas Carol. Mulled wine along with other punches, whether flaming or not, in recent years has enjoyed a comeback. Perhaps due to renewed interest in the Victorian and Edwardian Age thanks …
