Passion fruit, pineapple & almond — Colonel Saab London
Punchu is a name that plays on 'punch' — one of the great drinks of colonial India, the punch bowl (from the Sanskrit 'panch', meaning five — for the five punch ingredients: alcohol, sugar, lemon, water, spice) was the social drink of the East India Company era. Colonel Saab's Punchu is their modern, tropical take on that tradition — without the alcohol, the punch is rebuilt around passion fruit (the most aromatic tropical fruit, with 60 known volatile aromatic compounds), fresh pineapple, and orgeat. It aims to make anyone smile, as the cocktail description states — and the combination of passion fruit and pineapple is hard to resist.
Ripe passion fruits should be deeply wrinkled — smooth passion fruits are underripe and sharp. Scoop the seeds and pulp directly into the shaker without straining first (the seeds are fine-strained out at the end). Fresh pineapple juice is distinctly better than canned — its bright, acidic freshness is essential. Orgeat adds sweetness and depth; don't skip it.
An elegant homage to the era of the Indian Army officer — refined North and Central Indian cuisine in a handsome Holborn dining room. Colonel Saab's bar programme is built on house-spiced spirits and techniques drawn from both the subcontinent and the British raj era, producing some of London's most inventive Indian cocktails.
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