Name: Livorno Punch (Ponce alla Livornese)
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 1 barspoon Powdered sugar; 5 ml Boiling water; 1 fresh Lemon peel; 15 ml Aged rum (6-10yr); 30 ml Espresso coffee (hot)

Ingredients

1 barspoon

Powdered sugar (white sugar ground in mortar and pestle)

¹⁄₆ fl oz

Boiling water

1 fresh

Lemon peel

¹⁄₂ fl oz

Caribbean blended rum aged 6-10 years

1 fl oz

Exprè Caffè Italiano (or freshly made hot Espresso Coffee)

How to make

Glassware

Method:

1. Place thick-cut coin-sized lemon zest in base of glass and cover with sugar.
2. Ideally, use the steam wand of a coffee machine to steam and moisten sugar while also warming glass (alternatively, add a splash of boiling water).
3. MUDDLE lemon and sugar in base of glass (with small muddler).
4. POUR rum into glass.
5. TOP with a shot of espresso dispensed straight into your cocktail from the machine.

Flavour Profile

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

Health & Nutrition

Alcohol content:

We don't have enough information to calculate the alc./vol., but based on known ingredients, this recipe contains at least:

4.7 grams of pure alcohol

History

Said to date from the 1700s, this is the signature ponce (Italian for punch) of the Italian port city of Livorno on the west coast of Tuscany.

In a letter to his friend Nando, poet Giosuè Carducci (1835-1907) wrote: "We drank a lot of white, o Nando, we drank a lot of black punch and with profound knowledge, we never left a cup or glass without seeing the bottom."

If you want to properly experience a Ponce alla Livornese, then head to the Civil Bar in Livorno, a historic caffè founded in the 1890s, this is the drink's spiritual home.

Comments & Discussion

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Matt Premium Member 1y

Fascinating little drink! I made with a ristretto shot drawn from a super-automatic machine, using Lavazza Super Crema (which I believe is a blend of arabica and robusta beans). Appleton 8 yr. Much more subdued than a shot of ristretto should be - it is nutty, with a bit of lemon nose when sipping (but not in the taste). Not sweet, and only a bit bitter (again, much more subdues than a ristretto shot). Excellent!

Matija Prelec 3y

As a note, don't use your artisanal coffee for this. If it incluses words like "single origin" or "high grown" or whatever, it is not optimal here.

You want a classic, high roast level, "commercial" style where nowhere it utters the label "100% arabica".

You know what I mean here.

With such a robust coffee, this pleasantly balances the bitterness and brings interest, while those lighter, more fruity and acidic blends would throw the balance off.