My husband ordered a poncha on our first night in Funchal thinking it would taste like sangria with a funny name, and about ten minutes later he was telling our waiter his entire life story. That is poncha in a nutshell. It looks like a cozy little glass of honey and citrus and it will absolutely get away from you if you are not careful.
Poncha was born among Madeiran fishermen and whalers, who drank aguardente de cana, a rough sugarcane spirit, both to warm up on cold water and as a kind of rustic antiseptic for cuts and scrapes. Someone eventually had the good sense to add honey and citrus to make it more pleasant, and a whole ritual grew up around it, including a special wooden muddler called a caralhinho, shaped almost like a small paddle, used to mash and mix everything together at the table.
Real aguardente de cana can be tricky to find outside of Portuguese specialty stores here, so a good white rum stands in perfectly well. If you have made my traditional Portuguese sangria or my Portuguese white sangria (recipes on the site), this is their sharper, punchier cousin from the other side of the country.
Poncha Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes · Cook time: 0 minutes · Total: 5 minutes · Servings: 1 drink · Calories: ~220 per serving
Ingredients
- 3 oz aguardente de cana (Madeiran sugarcane spirit) or white rum
- 1 oz honey, preferably orange blossom honey, or to taste
- 2 oz fresh orange juice
- 1 oz fresh lemon juice
- Orange and lemon wedges, for muddling and garnish
- Optional: 1 oz fresh passion fruit pulp, for a poncha de maracujá variation
Instructions
- Squeeze the fresh orange and lemon juice, straining out any seeds.
- In a sturdy glass or small pitcher, combine the honey with a splash of the citrus juice and stir until the honey fully dissolves. This matters. Cold honey seizes up and will not mix in properly later.
- Add the rest of the orange juice, lemon juice, and the aguardente de cana or rum.
- Traditionally this gets stirred vigorously with a wooden muddler for a minute or two until frothy and well combined. A sturdy bar spoon or a milk frother works fine at home.
- Taste and adjust: more honey for sweetness, more citrus for tang, more spirit for strength. It should taste balanced, not like straight alcohol with a rumor of honey in it.
- Pour into small tumblers or rocks glasses. No ice traditionally, Madeirans drink it at room temperature, though ice is fine on a hot day.
- Garnish with an orange twist if you like, and serve right away. Poncha is meant to be made and drunk fresh, not batched ahead of time.
Recipe Notes
- Real aguardente de cana, different from Brazilian cachaça though similar in spirit, can be found at larger Portuguese specialty stores or ordered online through Portuguese import shops. A good white rum is a completely respectable substitute.
- Warm the honey gently, a few seconds in the microwave or just using warm juice, before mixing. This is the one step people skip and then wonder why their poncha has honey clumps sitting at the bottom of the glass.
- Poncha de tangerina, made with tangerine juice, and poncha de maracujá, made with passion fruit, are both popular variations once you have the base ratio down.
- This is a strong drink dressed up as a cozy one. Pace yourself, especially the first time.
