Poncha
Photo: Mitsjol · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

Poncha started as a fisherman's drink on Madeira's south coast, made from the cane spirit that was a by-product of the sugar industry and drunk against cold and damp. The traditional version is lemon, honey and aguardente in fixed proportions, stirred rather than shaken with the caralhinho, a stick turned specifically for the job. Passion fruit and tangerine versions came with tourism and are now poured alongside the original in the Zona Velha and in the poncha bars of Câmara de Lobos, which remain the reference point.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 5 minTotal 5 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 120ml aguardente de cana
  • 3 tablespoons runny bee honey
  • 80ml freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 2 lemons
  • Ice, optional and non-traditional

Method

  1. Put the honey into a wide jug or a wooden bowl.
  2. Add the lemon juice and work the two together with a wooden stick until the honey has fully dissolved. This takes a minute of steady stirring.
  3. Pour in the aguardente and keep stirring in one direction for 30 seconds so the mixture emulsifies rather than separating.
  4. Serve immediately in small tumblers, without ice if you want the Madeiran version.

Tip from the editors. Dissolve the honey into the juice before the spirit goes in. Add the aguardente first and the honey will sink and stay there.

Where to eat poncha

Poncha in Funchal

Barreirinha Bar Café ★ 4.2

€€ CaféZona VelhaUntil 00:00, 02:00 Friday and Saturday

Barreirinha Bar Café sits above the old bathing complex in the Funchal Zona Velha, a seafront terrace running from morning coffee to weekend DJs.

OrderA poncha on the terrace as the light goes off the water.

TipMorning coffee and late drinks happen in the same room. Weekends run to 02:00.

Directions

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