Historic Fish House Punch goes back to a Philadelphia sporting club on the banks of the Schuylkill River, circa 1732. In the early 1800s it was enjoyed by Marines stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, thus becoming a traditional part of many Marine celebrations. Beginning in World War II, Lt. Gen. Vincent “Brute” Krulak embraced the drink. Standing only 5-foot-5, Krulak was the epitome of the punching-above-his-weight, scrappy bulldog Marine. As a boy, his father told him, “You will be short, and you will be bald. But you don’t have to be fat.” From 1940 until his death in 2008 (at the ripe old age of 95), Fish House Punch was a fixture at Krulak’s birthday celebrations. His biographer, Robert Coram, described this punch as “an insidious drink that, after two glasses, causes a peculiar numbness around the ears. After three glasses, a man believes he is the smartest person God ever created.” Enjoy your newfound intelligence responsibly!

INGREDIENTS

Servings

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 lemons, peeled and peels reserved
• 4 cups black tea (or water)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 4 cups rum, Jamaican
• 2 cups cognac
• 1/2 cup peach brandy

Garnish: lemon wheels and freshly grated nutmeg

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, add sugar and lemon peels, and rub together to release the citrus oils into the sugar. (This is called oleo-saccharum.)
2. Allow oleo-saccharum to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
3. Dissolve sugar with warm water or tea.
4. Add rum, cognac, lemon juice and peach brandy and stir to mix.
5. Add a block of ice to chill, and continue to add smaller pieces of ice for desired dilution. (See Editor’s Note.)
6. Garnish with lemon wheels and freshly grated nutmeg.
7. Ladle into individual glasses.

Guadalcanal Cocktail

By late spring of 1942, the Japanese controlled most of the Western Pacific theatre. In August, the Allies launched the first-ever offensive in the South Pacific with the landing of 11,000 Marines on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. The way the Marines tell it, the Navy dropped them off, then got the hell out, leaving the Leathernecks to fend for themselves. Well, at least Adm. Chester Nimitz was kind enough to leave them a few cases of Old Crow Bourbon; the daily ration worked out to be about 2 to 4 ounces per Marine per day. Resourceful Marines (as if there’s any other kind) soon learned to mix their whiskey with unsweetened grapefruit juice and, when they could get it, ice, which they’d “liberate” from the Japanese’s icehouses or their own mess hall. For years thereafter, Marine veterans of Guadalcanal would raise glasses of this cocktail to commemorate their heroic campaign.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 oz  Old Crow Bourbon Whiskey
• 2 oz  Unsweetened grapefruit juice

Glass: Old fashioned or Rocks

Garnish: None

Leatherneck Cocktail

This drink’s creator has become something of a hero of mine. Marine Capt. Frank Farrell not only fought on Guadalcanal, but also received a Silver Star for valor serving as an Office of Strategic Services intelligence officer during the battle of New Georgia. He also broke up a Nazi espionage ring in Hong Kong. Before the war he was a judge for the 1939 Miss America pageant, and in the 1950s was a syndicated columnist for the New York World Telegram, writing a “man about town” feature titled “New York Day By Day.” In 1951, he created the Leatherneck Cocktail, which debuted in Ted Saucier’s immortal book, Bottom’s Up. It’s interesting to note that Farrell referred to the blue curaçao as being “a new cordial in Holland not yet marketed here.”

Leatherneck Cocktail

• 2.00 ounces blended whiskey (Crown Royal recommended)
• 0.75 ounce blue curaçao
• 0.50-ounce fresh lime juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

Here’s to the few, the proud, the United States Marine Corps. Happy Birthday, and Semper Fi!

Reprinted from The Daily Beast. Recipes and pictures added.

Other Known Marine Corps Drinks

THE US MARINE CORPS MARTINI

The following recipe has enjoyed a more than fifty-year run at the replica Tun’s Tavern on the grounds of the Quantico Marine base and is a bit of a departure from the traditional recipe. dry sherry takes the place of vermouth and the entire drink is refrigerated before serving. No stirring or shaking is mentioned. The drink is sometimes referred to as the 5,4,3,2,1 Martini.

Recipe by Fred Fenlon, adapted from Teri’s Kitchen

• 5 parts vodka
• 4 parts gin
• 3 ice cubes
• 2 parts pale dry sherry (Dry white vermouth is an acceptable substitute.)
• 1 part water

Place all 5 ingredients in the glass container (capable of holding 2-1/2 to 3 cups of liquid) and place it in the freezer of your refrigerator for at least three hours. The one part water should freeze and crystallize in the drink. Also place your cocktail glasses in the freezer, with or without rocks, as is your custom. 

1775 RUM PUNCH

• 1 part lime juice
• 2 parts sugar syrup
• 3 parts dark rum
• 4 parts water

Mix ingredients and pour over ice or chill. Top with a sprinkle of nutmeg and a dash of Angostura Bitters. You can substitute pineapple juice for the water.

Marine Shot recipe