Today we honor punch – the kind from a bowl, not a fist – as we celebrate National Punch Day.

The word punch comes from the Hindi word, paunch, as the idea of punch was first brought from India to England by sailors and employees of the British East India Company in the early 1600s. Early punch concoctions contained five ingredients:  alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices. Since then, punch has been introduced to other countries, and today we have hundreds and hundreds of punch recipes.

Celebrate today by trying one of those recipes and thoroughly enjoying it.

Happy National Punch Day!

Image from slog.thestranger.com.