Before arriving on Madeira, we had heard about Poncha – the local drink that seems to be enjoyed pretty much wherever and whenever. And during our first evening on the island we got a taste of the stuff; it was being made fresh at stalls in the capital, Funchal, at what they called the festival of light (though it did not actually coincide with the night of the winter solstice, which the little heathen in me would have appreciated).