Ok, cue happy birthday and start passing out the fruit punch. I think it’s fair to say most of us had our first encounter with punch early on in life, probably while wearing a birthday hat, and probably while singing happy birthday out of tune to a family member, but have you ever wondered “Hey, what’s the deal with fruit punch?” 

The name ‘punch’ is taken from the Sanskrit word for ‘five’, as the drink was made with five key ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices.  

The earliest form of punch was made similar to wassail with a mulled wine or brandy base, but modern ‘Punch’ emerged when some brilliant human decided to add Jamaican rum into the mix and made it a party.

The term has since widened to an assortment of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, and has become extremely popular at parties. And seeing as how tomorrow (September 20^th) is National Punch Day, we say grab some tea, grab some spices, mix in some rum, and make yourself a traditional Rum punch!