Punches

The key element for Punches is the Sour element. There is no lead element in Punches, since balance is the nature that should form the initial flavor. The pivotal element in Punches is the Weak element.
The elemental nature of Punches can be expressed as: SOUR + SWEET + STRONG + WEAK
The terminus ante quem for Punch is currently in the year 1632 A.D. Punch is a product of classic culinary fusion. The English arrivied on the Bombay coast of India with the culture of mixing alcohol with other types of ingredients (which they had inherited from Greco-Roman wine-mixing culture). There, they found an abundance of citrus fruits, particularly the sour lime. Given their proclivity for mixing, using the juice of the lime with which to do so would have been expected.
The English of Bombay seem to have named the drink after the Marathi word pach (meaning 'five'), or the Hindi word for the same, paanch, for the five ingredients they used. This may have come from the marketplace request for something like "the five things" they repetitively sought.
Punches became the quintessential English, and British, form of mixed drink after the seventeenth century. The sour-sweet-strong balance become so popular that a huge number of drinks served in American bars now are punches.
In contrast to the harmony in the spirit-heavy Whiskey Cocktail (a Sling), the Whiskey Sour (a Punch) requires balance between the four elements yoked together. Do not think of a soloist. Think of a barbershop quartet.