The beverage known as "punch" is said to have been invented in the 17th century because of the scarcity of wine and beer in English merchant outposts in Asia. It usually contained citrus, sugar or molasses, arrack, a South and Southeast Asian liquor, and water or often, tea. Here's a story from Atlas Obscura on the origins of tea punch, how it spread to the American colonies, where it went, and why it's coming back.