At college, a long way from home, I shared the spirit of the islands by making killer rum punches. If I didn't always have Trinidad rum on hand, I would make do with fine Puerto Rican rums or the finest Jamaican. And in the recently de-segregated Virginia hinterland and our elite girls college, we would warm cold nights and make friends across many ethnicities. Our group of West Indians - from Curacao, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago - always the liveliest in the dining room, became the core of a virtual United Nations. Through exchanges that brought both white and Afro-American students to Trinidad and Tobago, we helped to bring down barriers in the college that certainly extended to the small society beyond the campus. Friendships were cemented in West Indian dinners - curried chicken and Trinidad rum punches - at the Dean's house. But that's really another story.
To Toledo Ohio and Washington DC, rum punches travelled with me. In my friends' kitchens, the rum (gold preferred but white would do) would come out to be combined with lime juice and a simple syrup made by dissolving a cup of sugar in a cup of hot water, ginger ale and Angostura Bitters. The recipe then: a cup of frozen lime concentrate, a cup of simple syrup (cooled) swizzled with two cups of rum. Pour over crushed ice to half of a tall glass, finish with ginger ale and a few dashes of bitters, and serve. You could always vary the proportion of ingredients to make it stronger or more fizzy. Fresh limes make the best killer rum punches! And of course, there's no hard and fast rule about how much rum to add.
The rhyme that helps to remind us of the recipe for planter's punch goes like this: one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.
Fresh lime juice (with pulp), one cup
Simple syrup (one cup sugar dissolved in one cup water)
Trinidad rum (three cups)
Ginger ale (three or four cups, adjust for a stronger or fizzier punch)
Ice
Angostura bitters
Mix the lime juice, syrup and rum in advance and store in bottles. Just before serving, add ginger ale, ice and a few dashes of bitters.
This is guaranteed to turn any gathering into a "Trini lime."
 |
| Fresh limes make the best rum punch! |
The rhyme that helps to remind us of the recipe for planter's punch goes like this: one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.
Fresh lime juice (with pulp), one cup
Simple syrup (one cup sugar dissolved in one cup water)
Trinidad rum (three cups)
Ginger ale (three or four cups, adjust for a stronger or fizzier punch)
Ice
Angostura bitters
Mix the lime juice, syrup and rum in advance and store in bottles. Just before serving, add ginger ale, ice and a few dashes of bitters.
This is guaranteed to turn any gathering into a "Trini lime."
 |
| Add a cherry and slice of lime if you want to be fancy! |
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