Woo! Hate to be late to this party. I am glad the theme is forgiveness cause I sure need it. With work, tornadoes, and the holidays it was all a fella could do to cobble these thoughts together. Dagreb from Nihil Utopia has a great theme for this month’s MxMo and that’s drinks with a little bit of wiggle room. Now Tiki probably isn’t something you readily think of. Our cocktails are exacting and precisely crafted with odd ingredients and measurements. However there is one cocktail that launched a thousand skiffs that we’ve talked about a lot.
Drinks.com, now remerged with Food.com, linked our original planters punch series in which we break down the parts of Tiki Planters Punches. If you spend a lot of time and study with Tiki drinks you notice that many of them spring from this granddaddy punch. Jeff Beachbum Berry has highlighted this in Potions of the Carribean in depth, also in Remixed and Sippin Safari. Over time I have developed a few “Tiki Skeletons”. These are frames in which I can hang ingredients on in a hurry. When we did Tiki Night at Collins Bar I really had a chance to refine their construction and make them sturdier. Now it does take time, craft, and tasting to perfect an idea into a Tiki Treasure. Still with the frame below you can sub and shake up a pretty super sip.
Few People know my birth name is Edward. Hence, fast eddies.
Fast Eddie’s Planter’s #1
1 oz gold rum (Cruzan)
1 oz dark rum (Appleton 12 year)
1 oz fresh lime juice
½ oz syrup (cinnamon)
¼ oz liqueur (Giffard Banane du Bresil)
dash bitters (angostura)
Shake your ingredients together and pour unstrained into a tall glass. A few pineapple flags with some fresh citrus or a parasol can really brighten up the display. Tiki is better with a straw so provide one to your guest.
Pleasant hints of sour mesh with a pop of rum into a tart and fruity finish. Spice makes the rounds throughout and lingers on the tail. This is one of many easy quick punches you can whip up in an instant for friends when they come by. It may not be a perfect immaculate Tiki potion or the best thing on the site, but it’s made using a framework that’s easy to swap things on. Hate Cinnamon? Throw in some honey, passion fruit, pineapple, or any other syrup you have. Minus one of the rums I listed? Your favorite gold and dark rum will make fine stand ins. Can’t stand Bananas or can’t find Giffard? Use a liqueur you like to accent your syrup choice. The one crucial part is the fresh lime, you have to have it. You can use it to control how much sweetness you prefer. Go crazy with bitters, Ango is a perfect Tiki match but there are legions to play with. We really enjoy Bittermen’s, Scrappy’s and Bittercube.
Play around with it and share with me what you think. Your comments are the best holiday gift this Tiki Freak could get. Until next time…
“You get Hammered America”– JFL
