Poncha and Peanuts T-shirt

Poncha is a traditional and emblematic drink of Madeira, made of sugar cane brandy, sugar and lemon juice.

From popular wisdom

They say that the history of poncha started with the fishermen, in Câmara de Lobos, hence the name. As they had very strong brandy, they added water and lemon peel crushed with sugar. … Besides serving the traditional ‘Poncha à Pescador’, they started to make the regional one with lemon (lemon, honey and brandy).

According to some studies

Poncha originated in India where it is known as pãnch, which literally means five ingredients: arrack – rice spirit or coconut kernel – lemon juice, sugar, spice – tea – and water.

Throughout the 19th century poncha was a drink widely consumed in Madeiran families all over the island, whether wealthy or not.

According to some studies a distant antecedent of this drink was already used in the Portuguese and Castilian navigations of the 16th century. It resulted from a syrup elaborated to preserve lemon, used during the voyages to prevent scurvy (due to the lack of vitamin C). Lemon was preserved during long journeys, in brandy and cane molasses produced in Madeira since the end of the 15th century, from the sugar cane introduced in the island soon after the beginning of colonisation and on the initiative of Prince Henry the Navigator. This is how it reached India and Brazil in the 16th century. The British arrived much later. In Brazil it originated the ‘caipirinha’. In Cape Verde you drink the grog with similar roots. In Madeira you use 1/3 of molasses or cane sugar, 1/3 of cane brandy (cachaça) and 1/3 lemon or lime juice. in Wiki

Nowadays it is possible to drink poncha with various flavours, from the traditional lemon to passion fruit, tangerine, etc.