Farmer's Punch
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. Fortunately, we happened to have just acquired a bottle of Far North Spirits Alander Nordic Style Spiced Rum. This rum comes from a farm distillery in northern Minnesota – just a few miles from the Canadian border and the northernmost distillery in the contiguous United States. It’s a long way from the West Indies, but we found Alander Spiced Rum’s vanilla and espresso aroma, with notes of ginger, allspice, and clove a great base for a Tiki cocktail.
We played with this recipe a bit to achieve the right balance. If you’re using a different spiced rum in this drink you may need to experiment with the sweet/tart balance. In other words, there’s no hard and fast rules (other than make the drink taste good).
Our Farmer’s Punch uses the Planter’s Punch basics (rum, citrus juice, and simple syrup) as well as Cointreau and fresh pineapple juice. We served the first round in Collins glasses filled with crushed ice and garnished with pineapple wedges. It’s a fine way to cool off on a hot summer day – even if you haven’t been farming. When we were setting up round two for the photo shoot, we put the drink in an antique pint milk bottle, and it seemed to complete the picture. We could just see a thirsty Minnesota farmer (as portrayed in the Cocktail Artist’s original watercolor painting) sipping his frosty cocktail - after having safely parked his tractor.
The original recipes for Planter’s Punch were all written in verse. Here’s the one that appeared in Fun, in 1878:
Planter's Punch! A West Indian Recipe
A wine-glass with lemon juice fill, of sugar the same glass fill twice
Then rub them together until
The mixture looks smooth, soft, and nice.
Of rum then three wine glasses add,
And four of cold water please take. A Drink then you’ll have that’s not bad—
At least, so they say in Jamaica.
We’re not exactly poets - we struggle to write a coherent blog post, but we’ll give it a shot:
Farmer’s Punch! A North-South Recipe
Spiced Rum from the North
Pineapple from the South
Some citrus, and sugar
Lift the glass to your mouth!
Cheers!
Farmer’s Punch
2 ounces Spiced Dark Rum (Far North Spirits Alander Spiced Rum)
1 ounce fresh pineapple juice (see note below)
½ ounce Orange Liqueur (Cointreau)
½ ounce fresh lime juice
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup
Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with a few ice cubes and shake very well. Strain into a hurricane cup or Collins glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.
Note: to create fresh pineapple juice, peel and core a fresh pineapple. Cut into one inch chunks and place them in a blender and blend until they liquify. Strain through a mesh strainer, pressing on the pulp. Discard the solids.
 |
| The Farmer - original watercolor by The Cocktail Artist |
