Jamaica is one thing in the pot, not the pot
Agua de jamaica is hibiscus infused into cold water and poured from the glass barrel at a market stall. Ponche navideno is a hot brew of tejocote, guava, apple, sugarcane, tamarind and cinnamon, with hibiscus somewhere in the middle of that list giving the pot its color.
People who order ponche expecting a hot version of the red jug are surprised twice: it is fruitier than they thought, and there are pieces in it.
From a dry mix
The working ratio is one part dried fruit to three parts water. Bring it up to a boil, then drop it to a simmer and leave it there for fifteen to twenty minutes, covered.
That is enough time for the fruit to give up what it has. Longer does not make it better, and past a certain point the apple goes to mush and the cinnamon turns bitter.
How long, depending on where you started
Ponche is one of those pots where the recipe length says more about the shopping than the cooking. These are the four cases people usually find themselves in.
| What you have | Time on the stove |
|---|---|
| A dry mix, everything already cut and dried | Fifteen to twenty minutes |
| Dry mix plus some fresh apple and cane | Thirty to forty minutes |
| Whole fresh fruit, the classic pot | About an hour |
| A big pot for a posada | An hour and twenty |
Pull the flowers at fifteen minutes
If your pot has whole hibiscus flowers in it, lift them out once the fifteen minutes are up. Left in, they keep giving and the whole pot slides back toward tasting like a hot agua fresca, which is exactly the drink ponche is not.
A slotted spoon is enough. You do not need to strain the rest of the pot to do it.
Fresh fruit and what to do at the end
Fresh apple, pear or a length of sugarcane can go in alongside a dry mix. Add them for the last twenty minutes rather than at the start, or they will be gone by the time the pot is ready.
Straining is optional and mostly a question of how you are serving it. The fruit pieces are supposed to end up in the cup, so a ladle into mugs needs nothing. Strain it when it goes into glasses and you want the cup clear.
One part fruit to three parts water, fifteen to twenty minutes, flowers out at the end of it.
