# What Was Bob Cratchit's Christmas Drink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513 "2010-11-13T01:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/1 "2010-11-13T01:36:10Z")
In the classic “A Christmas carol” Bob has made a hot drink for the family, to drink after their (meager) Christmas dinner. Dickens describes it as “a hot drink of gin and lemons”-anybody know what kind of punch this was? How is it made? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/2 "2010-11-13T02:10:23Z")
Shoot. It’s called Orange something, but I can’t remember the name now. I’ll try to look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/3 "2010-11-13T02:11:24Z")
Wait, I think it’s called Smoking Bishop, actually…maybe. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/4 "2010-11-13T02:30:35Z")
[Smoking Bishop](http://www.msgr.ca/msgr-2/dickens_smoking_bishop.htm) was the drink that Scrooge proposed that he and Cratchit discuss his raise over. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/5 "2010-11-13T02:51:51Z")
My copy of “The Annotated Christmas Carol” doesn’t have any information about this mixture, unlike many of the other foods and drinks, so it must be no more than what it says: hot water (and sugar, probably) with a little gin and lemons. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/6 "2010-11-13T04:58:12Z")
Maybe Bob was just relaxing with a Tom Collins. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/7 "2010-11-13T10:49:29Z")
Razzleberry Tea. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/8 "2010-11-13T12:56:27Z")
There’s another Victorian novel, maybe The History of Pendennis, where a hot drink with lemons and booze is called “punch”. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/9 "2010-11-13T13:16:12Z")
[Here](http://historicalfoods.com/42/hot-gin-punch-recipe/)’s an example of a hot gin punch that has a little more to it. > [@historicalfoods.com](#): > > ``` > * Juice 1/2 lemon > * pinch ground cinnamon > * 1 stick of cinnamon to stir > * 1 clove > * 1 teaspoon brown sugar > * 1 teaspoon honey > * 1 large measure sweet dark Madeira wine > * 1 large measure dry gin > * pot of boiling water > * grated nutmeg > > ``` > > Into a warm tumbler put the juice of half a lemon, the cinnamon and clove, and the sugar and honey. Three-quarters fill the glass with boiling water, add the Madeira and gin and stir with a stick of cinnamon. Grate nutmeg thereon and drink quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/10 "2010-11-13T15:15:39Z")
Possibly something akin to wassail. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/11 "2010-11-13T18:30:11Z")
No reason why you can’t dilute gin with sugar, lemon juice and hot water. It’s like a poor man’s mulled wine. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/12 "2010-11-13T18:39:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Possibly something akin to wassail. This initially scanned as ‘weasel’. I got in image of a Slug cartoon depicting a guy wringing a weasel into a punchbowl. ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/13 "2010-11-13T18:43:38Z")
Obviously it should be called a “Tiny Tim,” cred or not. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-bob-cratchits-christmas-drink/560513/14 "2010-11-13T19:22:56Z")
I expect that whatever it was, the drink would have been such a common custom that Dickens felt no need to specify it.