Here’s a drink that branches out from our recent run of classic, mostly pre-Prohibition cocktails: the Puritan’s Punch.  This rum-based cocktail is a great cold weather drink, sweet and tart, earthy and spicy: delicious!

Read below for the full recipe!

Puritan’s Punch

2 oz Dark Rum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Honey Syrup
2 Dashes Clove Bitters

Combine all of the ingredients, shake with ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, and enjoy.

 

For a thicker Punch, increase the honey syrup to 3/4 oz, but you should probably also push the lime juice up to 3/4 oz to balance the sweetness of the honey syrup.  You can make honey syrup the same way you make simple syrup: mix equal parts honey and water, then heat gently while stirring until combined.

Clove bitters aren’t the easiest to come by, so try using a dash or two of Angostura bitters and mix in some real cloves (whole or ground) when shaking to get the deep spiciness that makes this drink so great. Or, you can try heating the cloves–and some cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, ginger, and whatever other spices you feel like–with the honey to make a nicely spiced honey syrup. Some fresh-grated nutmeg on top is also a nice touch.

 

We first had this drink at one of our new favorite restaurants in DC, Fiola.  The food is great, but we’re also big fans of their bar and, more specifically, their bartenders – who experiment all the time with interesting cocktails.  This Puritan’s Punch is their take on a creation that honors the early Puritan settlers of America, based on the theory that the they probably would have made punch with rum.  Rum was first distilled in New England from molasses imported from the Caribbean as far back as the late 1600s and was the biggest industry in New England for a long time.  It’s a good theory, but an even better drink.

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper