A Swedish Tradition

A Swedish Tradition - PUNCH

A hundred years ago Cederlunds punsch was as well-known in the world as Volvo cars are today. When the famous travel guide Baedeker picked out the best things about Sweden, he chose the smörgåsbord and punsch.

At this time there were many hundreds of punsch labels sold on the market. Every respectable restaurater made his own punch. But Cederlunds Caloric punsch remained the leading brand. Especially since 1862 when it received a bronze medal in London.In the 19th century punsch was very much a national drink.

The word punch can be traced back to the Indian word punch meaning five. Five ingredients were required to make the potent drink. There is also a Persian word - punj that was pronounced punch, at least by foreigners.

The first punch arrived in Sweden in 1730 on board the first East Indian boat Friedericus Rex. The crew had learnt to make a punch with arrak in Java. Later on arrak became a part of every sailor's salary, the amount directly related to a sailor's rank.

The punch was drunk warm and this custom continued for about a hundred years. Ice-cold punsch was a much later fad.

The Cederlunds started manufacturing punsch in 1845. The family had been wine dealers for generations. The first punsch was produced in two variations: Pounsch n:o 1 and Pounsch n:o 2. And where did the manufacturing take place? - In the cellar of the House of Nobels.Furthermore the company rented the cellar of the Royal Palace as a bottling and warehouse space. For the sake of convenience, a little railway was built under the palace for transportation.

Later on when King Oskar II and his wife Sofia moved into the palace, Sofia had her doubts about living on a "punsch mountain". She complained about the smell. A commission was set up to look into the complaints and found that they were not justified. The fact of the matter is that it wasn't until 1967 that the cellar of the palace ceased to be used as a warehouse for punsch.
Today punsch is a popular drink among old and young. It is drunk warm with pea soup and ice cold with coffee.