Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch
1 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. unsweetened pineapple juice
1/2 oz. falernum
2 oz. ginger beer
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1/8 teaspoon Pernod
2 oz. dark Jamaican rum
1 oz. gold Puerto Rican rum
1/2 oz. Barbados rum
Shake with one cup crushed ice. Pour into tall glass
with 3 or 4 ice cubes. Garnish with pineapple chunk and sprig of mint.
-from the "Grog Log" by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry
Summer may be "officially" over, but the Doctor
follows his own calendar and feels that tiki drinks can be prescribed any
time of the year...so keep the torches lit, and gather up your ingredients!
Here's my review on an original recipe by
Don the Beachcomber, one of the founding fathers of tiki-dom...
After getting everything into (and out of)
the shaker, the drink settled into the glass with a translucent, dusky
amber color, topped by a frothy head that remains well after the pour.
The rums & juices combine in an aroma that is unmistakably tiki, but
it won’t knock you over with a boozy updraft…you have to move in and chase
it.
After several sips I was pleased to find that
the various flavors stand up well against each other. Many times I’ve had
tiki-style drinks where the ingredients end up as an indistinct stew of
citrus, rums, and sweeteners, often in lopsided proportions. By contrast,
CBPP is a very evenly-flavored (some would perhaps say flat) tasting concoction.
Despite the evenness, the pineapple and Pernod
still seem to pop a bit. They really complement the dryness of the rums,
and the Pernod in particular is noticeable despite how little the recipe
calls for. The ginger beer however, is almost nonexistent--the flavor isn’t
evident, but rather the warm tingle of the ginger hangs in the background,
assuming more of a texture than a taste. (Although I’m guessing this can
vary depending on the brand used.)
Overall, I liked it. It’s not terribly distinctive,
but it is pleasant, and a great example of a tiki-style drink. As I finished
it, I couldn’t help notice its resemblance to another of Don the Beachcomber’s
drinks: the Zombie. There are several similar ingredients (including 3
rums), and even the garnish is basically the same. The falernum taking
the place of the passion fruit syrup is a departure, but the formula remains
essentially intact.
Now I’m not bashing the Beachcomber by implying
he merely dusted off an established recipe and made a few tweaks…but how’s
this for an analogy? Ever met two siblings where the older one is brash
and extroverted, and the younger one is quiet and charms all the older
relatives with his mature reserve and politeness? The Zombie is the former
and CBPP is the latter.
They’re both good kids. Spend time with
each of ’em.
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