The Cocktail Artist

Planter’s Punch is a classic rum concoction that traces its roots to the West Indies. The first recipe for Planter’s Punch was written in verse in 1878 in  Fun – a London magazine.  As with all things cocktail-related, the story of the origins of Planters Punch are fuzzy. The Planters Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina and Planter’s Hotel in St. Louis have both claimed to be where this drink originated, but rum punch can be traced back to Jamaica – the birthplace of rum. One story tells of a Jamaican planter's wife who concocted it to cool down the workers. This seems rather dubious since knocking back a couple of cups of rum punch wouldn’t exactly make planters very productive.  Recipes for Planter’s Punch include all kinds of add-ons, but the basic ingredients are dark rum, lime juice, and some sweetener. We ran across one recipe that said the secret to the perfect Planter’s Punch is fresh nutmeg. That got us thinking about using spiced rum in our variation. For...

Blackberries from the farm market and mint from the garden can be turned into a simple syrup that works perfectly for cocktails, mocktails, and for topping your pancakes.  For our cocktails, we used the syrup (recipe below) for Mojitos and Mint Juleps. We liked both cocktails, but the Blackberry Mint Julep really hit the spot. On a hot day it is refreshing to hold that frosty silver cup in your hand; however, we recently learned that proper Julep cup holding involves only gripping the top or the bottom so that the crushed ice can create a frost on the outside. While we do appreciate proper etiquette, our julep technique generally involves simply trying not to spill our drink and pacing its consumption so as to not allow the cocktail to become over-diluted. The Mint Julep was originally made with spirits like rum and brandy, and got its start as a medicinal concoction used to settle the stomach. It traveled west from Virginia to Kentucky – where it eventual...

We recently returned from a trip to Tahoe City, California – where we spent a week hiking, enjoying the beautiful blue water of Lake Tahoe, and attended a lovely family wedding. We rented a cozy (and well equipped) mountain cabin – which was perfect for our family in almost every way. The kitchen had all the culinary tools we needed to prepare meals, but upon our arrival, we found that there were absolutely no cocktail supplies. Being located in California, there were plenty of wine glasses (and champagne flutes) but no cocktail glasses, no mixing glass or shaker, and no measuring jigger. We had considered packing some of these items, but when push came to shove, we needed the space in the suitcase for those shoes for the wedding. Being a resourceful group, we were able to manage just fine. We didn’t want to purchase more liquor (and other ingredients) than we could use during our stay, and we needed to keep the cocktails simple enough to eyeball the measuring. We came up with a...