Jamaica, in print by 1878.
| 2 oz · 60 ml | DARK RUM | 40 % |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | ORANGE JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | PINEAPPLE JUICE | |
| ½ oz · 15 ml | LIME JUICE | |
| 1 barspoon | GRENADINE | |
| 2 dashes | ANGOSTURA BITTERS | 44 % |
| 1 oz · 30 ml | SODA WATER |
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.
| Pre-batch | 3.73 oz mixed with ice, 0.83 oz of it pure alcohol |
|---|---|
| Melt | Shaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.75 oz of water |
| Topped | Poured after the melt, kept whole: soda water 1 oz, no alcohol |
| Served | 3.73 + 0.75 + 1 = 5.48 oz in the glass, 0.83 oz of it alcohol |
| Strength | 0.83 ÷ 5.48 = 15.1 % ABV as served |
| Ethanol | 0.83 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 135 kcal from the alcohol alone |
FROM DARK RUM · from oak barrel aging
Bourbon's fingerprint, extracted from the charred American oak the law requires for aging. Same molecule as the vanilla bean's signature, so a well-aged bourbon legitimately tastes like vanilla. Chemistry, not metaphor. Cognac, aged rum, tequila reposado all extract vanillin from oak too. Different barrels, same molecule.
ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Manhattan · Whiskey Sour · Paper Plane · Boulevardier · Sazerac · Espresso Martini · Mai Tai
FROM LIME · the lemon aroma
Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.
ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation
FROM NUTMEG · the clove note
The clove note, a phenylpropanoid that shows up wherever a recipe calls for clove, allspice, or nutmeg, and in rye whiskey through oak-barrel extraction. Anesthetic at high concentration; dentists used clove oil for centuries before lidocaine. The numbing sensation on the tongue from biting a whole clove is eugenol blocking nociceptor signaling at the contact point.
Dark rum, three citrus juices, grenadine, Angostura and soda. It is the classic Jamaican rum punch formula, a formal version of the traditional rhyme 'one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.' Myristicin from the nutmeg garnish is the finish.
The formula traces to 17th-century West Indian plantation punches; a West Indian verse recipe for Planter's Punch ran in the London magazine Fun in 1878. Myers's, founded in Jamaica in 1879, later sold a Planters' Punch rum and helped put the drink on bar menus globally. The Jamaican rhyme 'one of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak' summarizes the build: lime, sugar, rum, water/ice. Subsequent decoration with bitters and fruit juices arrived in the 20th century.
