From 1670 to 1850 the world was obsessed with having punch drink, and specifically having to scoop it from a famous punch bowl. Only around 1810, was drinking a unique punch popular. However, by the end of the 1800’s the punch fad was forgotten as the world moved on to a new obsession. In 2015, the punch is making a comeback!
The “punch” originated in India, but was introduced to England in the 17th century (around 1630.) The word punch comes from the Hindi word pañc which means five. It was named five because it was believed that a punch must have these five ingredients to deserve the name:
Punch Requirements
- spirit
- weak: water, tea, juice or wine
- sweet: sugar or syrup
- sour: citrus
- seasoning: spice or bitter
An easy recipe is 5 parts weak, 4 parts spirits, 3 parts sour and 2 parts sweet. This simple model resulted in the creation of a variety of punches.
The Planters Punch Recipe
The existing recipe that we will base our ingredients off is a punch called The Planters Punch. Rather than starting with the spirit, the foundation of our punch is the fruit: dwarf banana. Banana is an unique ingredient because it has an incredible amount of aromas. As such, its fruity, banana and tropical aroma is also found in Mount Gay Rum. Other fruity and tropical aromas also allow the banana to pair well with the orange and pineapple aspect of the recipe. Additionally, the banana, the hibiscus, and the clove all share a unique spicy-clove aroma.
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Preparations
Couverts: 1
Syrup
- 5 g hibiscus
- 150 g water
- 100 g sugar
Boil the water and add the hibiscus. Cover and allow to infuse at least 5 minutes. Sieve and weigh 100 ml tea. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Cool.
- 45 ml rum
- 30 ml dwarf banana
- 5 ml orange juice
- 35 ml pineapple juice
- 10 ml hibiscus syrup
- 2 dash angostura bitter
- qs nutmeg, freshly grated
The pineapple juice should be sour enough to balance the cocktail however if it is still too sweet you could add more lemon or lemonade.
Assembly
Fill a Collins glass 3/4 full of cracked ice. Combine the ingredients in a shaker and shake. Strain into the Collins glass. Stir briefly. Finish with some dashes angostura bitter and some freshly grated nutmeg.
Enjoy!
