The Planter’s Punch is near an dear from my days as a bartender in Savannah. Now punches are among the very first of the cocktails with the first printed reference showing up in 1632. They were originally made with five ingredients. In fact the name punch comes from the Sanskrit word pañc meaning 5. The earliest versions were based on brandy, fruit juice, teas, sweeting agents and water. As the trade routes across the Atlantic developed rum became more cost effective and logistically available. And that was just the beginning of the evolution. Because punches lend themselves so well to mixing in large quantities, they became the go to drink for parties. With that much experimentation the original idea of the punch was quickly forgotten to the point that the only unifying thing in punch world now is rum and fruit juice. The Planter’s Punch itself has several variations sometimes in the same bar guide. I am going to give you my favorite combination based off of what are the oldest ingredients available.
Ingredients
3 oz heavy rum (Gosling’s Black Seal)
3 oz Orange juice
3/4 oz lime juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
3 Dashes of Angostura bitters
Garnish
Orange wheel and cherry
Glassware
12 oz tumbler
Assembly
Fill a shaker with crushed ice. Measure lime juice, syrup, bitters and rum and add to shaker. Shake until cold and pour the entire contents into the glass. Top with orange juice. Garnish.
Suggestions
You can find recipes with club soda, with pineapple juice, with lemon juice and of course grenadine. Whatever you experiment with just dedicate yourself to using quality ingredients.