The original Trader Vic and Donn Beach versions of Tiki cocktail recipes are much more simple than their modern adaptations, which tend to go bananas with fruit, juices, liqueurs and garnishes.
Case in point: Planter’s Punch. Lord knows what passes for a drink with that name these days, but the original contained nothing but fresh citrus juices, a touch of sweetener and a stiff two jiggers of dark rum. Funky stuff.
I made one over the weekend and I’m already looking forward to another after work tonight. I used one of my new Collins glasses and Smith & Cross, a traditional Jamaican rum.
Coincidentally, David Wondrich, the cocktail-historian/master-barkeep, who reprinted the 1947 Trader Vic version of the recipe I used, acted as a consultant for the production of the rum, a new brand from a long-defunct distillery.
Planter’s Punch
- 3 ounces Jamaican rum
- 1 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce grenadine
- 1/4 teaspoon superfine sugar
- Stir all ingredients well with cracked ice, then strain into a Collins glass full of cracked ice.