Stripping off the white linen suit and Panama hat, laying aside the panatella and the silver-headed malacca cane, the Planter’s Punch is just another rum-sugar-citrus drink (see the daiquiri, the mojito, and the caipirinha). In 1930, the English traveler Alec Waugh described the “ritual of mixing a Creole punch” thus: “quarter of a finger’s height of sugar, two fingers high of rum, the paring of a lime, the rattling of ice.” That’s about it for the basic version. Not fascinating, but as long as you use a decent dark rum — from Jamaica, Barbados, or Martinique — distinctly palatable. But that’s not the whole story. There are variations: with orange juice, with grenadine, with curaçao, with Angostura bitters, with just about anything vaguely Caribbean — even cayenne pepper. Garnishes range from none to sensible to amusing to ridiculous. In fact, the plain old Planter’s Punch has become an umbrella drink.
There’s no shame in that. Not much, anyway. Man cannot live by the stemmed glass alone: Sometimes there must be a tiki mug. So put on your Hawaiian Punch hat, turn Martin Denny up on the hi-fi, and give out with the “How low can you go?” Here’s a recipe from 1947; it’s a killer. And dig the crazy color.
Planter’s Punch
- 3 ounces dark rum
- 1 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce grenadine
- 1/4 teaspoon superfine sugar
Glass Type: Collins glass
Stir well with cracked ice, then strain into a Collins glass full of cracked ice; stick a straw in it and garnish with whatever the hell you want. We recommend using Jamaican rum.
Source: http://www.esquire.com/drinks/planters-punch-drink-recipe#ixzz1alosAyCh