Hot punch: where to taste it at Christmas markets

Hot punch, Punsch in Austria and Bohemia, is a heated mix of tea or fruit juice, rum or wine, sugar and spices, served in a cup. At the Christmas markets of Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany, it holds the chalet next to the mulled wine. Nothing to do with the punch of the French Antilles, served cold, nor with the champagne “Christmas punch” of French recipes.

Where to drink hot punch at a Christmas market

Austria is the land of Punsch. In Vienna, every market has its flavoured punches, with rum or fruit, and an alcohol-free Kinderpunsch for children. Salzburg and Hallstatt serve it with rum or red berries, Steyr and Bregenz with rum or fruit. In Graz, Styrian Punsch is poured into Häferl, the deposit mugs. Innsbruck and Linz have their punch stalls just as they have their Glühwein stalls.

In the Czech Republic, punč is drunk on the move, in Prague as in Plzeň, next to svařák and medovina, the mead. Olomouc serves dozens of different punches, with its punch trail and its deposit ceramic cups.

In Germany, Münster serves a home-made Glühpunsch at the Kiepenkerl market. In the Netherlands, Deventer pours a steaming punch during its Victorian Christmas.

Punch or mulled wine: what is the difference at the chalet

Mulled wine starts from a wine. Punch starts from a base that changes from one stall to the next: a tea, a fruit juice, rum, sometimes wine. It is generally sweeter than Glühwein, and in Germany it has no regulatory definition, unlike mulled wine. Czech punč is made of alcohol, sugar, lemon and spices.

At the chalet, both are served in the same deposit mug or cup. If in doubt, ask the stall what base its punch is made from.