A Pair of Tiki-esque Honey Daiquiris
This week’s newsletter will be short and sweet, just like the two cocktails that we will make.
Both of this week’s drinks are honey-laced Daiquiri variations that take the core three-ingredient formula — rum, lime, and sugar — and move it in a more tiki-ish direction by layering multiple sweeteners and adding a spice/intense flavor element.
One is a little bit dryer. The other is a little more decadent. But both are easy to make and delicious.
Both of these cocktails are rum drinks, and not just any rum either. They are both specifically designed for rhum agricole from Martinique, which tends to be grassier, earthier, and have somewhat more of that mysterious, funky quality that rum nerds call hogo.
You can, of course, use any rum you want. It’s your house and your bar. No one is going to stop you.1 But if you’re looking to explore the world of Martinique rhum in cocktails, and you want to make the drink as intended, these two drinks are a great place to start — if for no other reason than that they both have Martinique in their name.
Punch Drunk Love
But first, let’s step back a little bit.
This newsletter’s very first foray into a theory of tiki argued that the best way to understand tiki drinks is by looking at the Planter’s Punch.
I want to go back to that drink, because it is the key to so many tiki creations, including some of my personal favorites, like the Mai Tai and the Three Dots and a Dash. And a quick review of the Planter’s Punch will also help you understand this week’s cocktails.
There are many ways to make a Planter’s Punch, but fundamentally it’s just a Daiquiri (perhaps an extra-boozy Daiquiri) with an added spice element.
That spice element can take many forms: One easy recipe uses Angostura Aromatic bitters. Another version uses Allspice Dram. Some bartenders and tiki heads like to use rum blends.
But it’s really just rum, lime, and sugar — so, a Daiquiri — plus spice.
One of the simplest, and most famous, recipes comes from the great, now sadly departed, rum collector Stephen Remsberg:
Planter’s Punch (Remsberg)
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
1 ounce simple syrup*
¾ ounce fresh lime juice
3 ounces dark, aged Jamaican rum (Remsberg recommends Coruba)
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a shaker
Add ice, then shake until chilled.
Pour into a tall glass over crushed ice.
Top with additional crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
*Simple syrup: Combine one part sugar and one part water, measured by weight, in a blender. Blend until thoroughly integrated, about 2-3 minutes. Bottle and store chilled. Lasts a month or more.
It’s simple, easy to execute, and consistently delicious.
Islands in the Net
The description also applies to this week’s first cocktail.