Cohasset Punch

{{Infobox beverage

| name = Cohasset Punch

| image = Cohasset Punch.jpg

| caption = A modern bottle of Cohasset Punch

| type = Liqueur

| abv = 30%

| proof = 60

| origin = Chicago, Illinois, United States

| introduced = 1899

| website = {{URL|cohassetpunch.com}}

}}

Cohasset Punch is a brand of rum-based drink introduced in 1899. First created by Chicago bartenders Lewis A. Williams and Thomas C. Newman, Cohasset Punch was long associated with the Ladner Bros. bar on Madison Street in the Chicago Loop, who produced it until the 1980s.{{cite encyclopedia | last=Wondrich | first=David | encyclopedia=The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails | title=Cohasset Punch | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=New York | date=2022 | pages=186–187 | isbn=978-0-19-931113-2 | editor1-last=Wondrich | editor1-first=David | editor2-last=Rothbaum | editor2-first=Noah}} Though officially classified as a liqueur, Cohasset Punch can also be considered a bottled cocktail or punch, and has been referred to as "the definitive Chicago cocktail".{{citation | last=Felten | first=Eric | title=Drinking the Chicago Way | newspaper=WSJ | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122973257260622987 | date=December 20, 2008 | access-date=May 20, 2024}} In 2024, bottled Cohasset Punch was relaunched under new ownership.{{cite web | title=History | website=Cohasset Punch | url=https://www.cohassetpunch.com/history | access-date=May 19, 2024}}

History

In the late 1890s, Chicago saloon owner and liquor dealer Lewis A. Williams{{efn | Lewis Williams' name is spelled "Louis" on some records, but his death notice{{cite news |title=Death Notices | work=Chicago Tribune | date=July 9, 1935 | page=21 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-lewis-a-williams-death/148446528/}} uses "Lewis."}} was invited to spend a few weeks at the Cohasset, Massachusetts summer estate of long-time family friend,{{cite book | title=Footprints and Echoes | last=Crane | first=William H. | date=1927 | location=New York | publisher=E.P. Dutton & Company | pages=55–56 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=91dAAAAAIAAJ}} actor William H. Crane.{{cite magazine | title=The Origin of Cohasset Punch | author= | magazine=Bonfort's Wine & Spirit Circular | date=August 10, 1902 | page=305 | volume=58 | issue=7}} Williams overheard some of Crane's other guests discussing rum punch, and wired Tom Newman, his business partner back in Chicago, to request a mixed drink that would "surpass anything ever before imbibed by any living soul." Within 24 hours, a cask of the new punch was loaded onto a railcar and bound for Cohasset. Upon tasting the new concoction, Crane and his guests declared Newman the "king of blenders." Crane wired Newman his thanks and asked for the name of the new drink, and Newman simply wired back the name, "Cohasset".

Williams & Newman began mixing Cohasset Punch at their saloon,{{cite news |title=Have You Had a Cohasset Punch | work=Chicago Inter Ocean | date=October 16, 1898 | page=8 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-inter-ocean-williams-newman-ad-for/167459716/}}{{efn | The Williams & Newman saloon was located at 124 Dearborn Street (now 10 N. Dearborn after the 1911 street renumbering). Williams & Newman was located across the street from the saloon of James McGarry, the inspiration for the Mr. Dooley character in columns by humorist Finley Peter Dunne.{{cite book | title=Recollections of Life & Doings in Chicago: From the Haymarket Riot to the End of World War I | last=Hermann | first=Charles H. | date=1945 | location=Chicago | publisher=Normandie House | pages=140–141 | url=https://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/OCA/Books2008-09/recollectionsofl00herm/recollectionsofl00herm.pdf}}}} serving the blend over a peach slice soaked in brandy.{{cite news | last=Fougner | first=G. Selmer | title=Along the Wine Trail | work=New York Sun | date=November 11, 1938 | page=23}} By the fall of 1899 they were selling Cohasset Punch in bottles, with modest but nationwide distribution. From the very beginning, each bottle had an image of Cohasset's famous Minot's Ledge Lighthouse on the label.{{US trademark|60035924}} Mixed Spiritous Beverages. Williams & Newman, Chicago, Ill. Essential feature—The pictoral representation of a lighthouse scene. Used since January, 1899. (filed January 15, 1900) (published February 19, 1901){{efn | Labels from 1899 to early 1981 also included illustrations of a sailboat and steamship on either side of the lighthouse. Labels from 1981{{cite web | title=Cohasset Punch | website=COLA Public Registry | url=https://ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicDisplaySearchBasic&ttbid=81090152 | date=September 28, 1981 | access-date=May 31, 2024}} until the end of original production replaced these with an illustration of one square-rigged tall ship to the right of the lighthouse. The modern label depicts William H. Crane’s catboat Chloe to the left of the lighthouse, and Crane’s steam yacht The Senator (designed by Edward Burgess and named for one of Crane's most successful plays).{{cite web | title=FAQ | website=Cohasset Punch | url=https://www.cohassetpunch.com/faq | access-date=May 23, 2024}}{{cite news |title=Com. W.H. Crane's Steam Yacht Senator | work=Boston Globe | date=February 14, 1897 | page=28 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-com-w-h-cranes-stea/103338199/}}}} In 1902, a leading liquor trade journal remarked that so high was the demand for Cohasset Punch in its city of origin, that "what the mint julep is to the South, Cohasset Punch is to Chicago." A recipe appeared for Cohasset Punch in cocktail guides that included sweet vermouth, New England rum, lemon juice, and orange bitters,{{cite book | title=The Complete Buffet Manual | last=Sheridan | first=J.E. | date=1901 | location=Chicago | publisher=Henneberry | pages=47–48 | url=https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1901-The-Complete-Buffet-Manual-or-How-to-Mix-Fancy-Drinks-by-J-E-Sheridan/46/}} but regulars believed that this formula did not quite taste like the original. Of the drink's smoothness compared to its 60-proof strength, a 1938 letter to the Chicago Tribune wrote that after three or four drinks, "a pleasant mellowness steals over you, your imagination glows, you discover humor you never possessed. Then suddenly you push your chair back to stand up, and lo, your legs are merely attached to your body for appearance's sake!"{{cite news |title=A Line O' Type or Two | work=Chicago Tribune | date=August 17, 1938 | page=10 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-cohasset-punch-a-line/148447450/}}

File:CohassetPunch-1980s.jpg, Chicago]]

After Williams & Newman retired in 1916, they sold the rights to Carl Ladner, who continued to serve the drink at the Ladner Bros. bar as well as bottle it for distribution. The bar reopened after Prohibition, and a large neon sign touting "The Home of Cohasset Punch" was hung outside. During the 1930s and 1940s, bottled Cohasset Punch could be found at many of Chicago's restaurants and nightclubs including Chez Paree and The Blackhawk, as well as the "Tip Top Tap" bar cars aboard the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha passenger trains.{{cite document | type=Menu | title=Dinner Wine List | publisher=Chez Paree | date=1941}}{{cite document | type=Menu | title=Cocktails | publisher=The Blackhawk | date=1943}}{{cite document | type=Menu | title=Tip Top Tap Room | publisher=Milwaukee Road | date=1935}} Ladner Bros. was demolished in 1986{{cite news | last=Davis | first=Jerry C. | title=Prohibition-era Cohasset Punch to fall for W. Madison skyscraper | work=Chicago Sun-Times | date=March 17, 1986 | page=47 | url=https://chicagosuntimes.newsbank.com/doc/news/0EB36CF74D05F922}}{{subscription required}} by developer Lee Miglin to make way for the proposed (but never built) 125-story Miglin-Beitler Skyneedle.{{cite news | last=Davis | first=Jerry C. | title=New skyscraper planned—would tower over Sears | work=Chicago Sun-Times | date=May 23, 1989 | url=https://chicagosuntimes.newsbank.com/doc/news/0EB36E5D94B09125}}{{subscription required}} Production of Cohasset Punch ceased shortly thereafter.

In 2024, the Cohasset Punch brand was revived by a Chicago-based cocktail history enthusiast using historical accounts of its flavor and ingredients.{{cite news | last=Hammond | first=David | title=Want to party like it's 1899? One Chicagoan is working to revive Cohasset Punch liqueur | work=Chicago Tribune | date=January 12, 2024 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/01/12/want-to-party-like-its-1899-one-chicagoan-is-working-to-revive-cohasset-punch-liqueur/ | access-date=May 19, 2024}}{{cite web | last=Hurt | first=Jeanette | title=Drinks Historian Revives Chicago's Signature Cocktail, Cohasset Punch | website=Forbes | date=April 28, 2024 | url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeanettehurt/2024/04/28/drinks-historian-revives-chicagos-signature-cocktail-cohasset-punch/?sh=1ff6a0eb1642 | access-date=May 19, 2024}}

Serving

Historically, Cohasset Punch has been served stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass over a peach slice. In the early 20th century, this garnish would have likely been a peach slice preserved in brandy. In the 1970s and 1980s, Cohasset Punch was increasingly served on the rocks or with mixers.{{cite news | last=Riggs | first=Rod | title=Pushing an old punch | work=San Diego Union-Tribune | date=November 24, 1986 | page=E-7 | url=https://sandiegouniontribune.newsbank.com/doc/news/117922C40A3F1B6D}}{{subscription required}}{{cite news | author= | title=LETTERS: Memories Pack a Punch | work=Chicago Tribune | date=August 31, 2008 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/08/31/letters-2766/ | access-date=May 22, 2024}} The current manufacturer suggests a number of cocktails that can be made with Cohasset Punch.{{cite web | title=Recipes | website=Cohasset Punch | url=https://www.cohassetpunch.com/recipes | access-date=May 19, 2024}}