Mixology Monday See? Aye! : Orange Juice

It's time for the monthly online cocktail party! Seems of late this is the only time my blog gets an update; I ought to change that! Anyway, this time 'round DJ Hawaiian Shirt has chosen orange juice as the theme. "Not orange liqueur, or oil, or bitters, or tangerine juice. Orange Juice." Alright then there are usually at least two varietals of oranges available from grocers here. I believe bottled, canned, or carton-ed juice is also permissible so that's, uh, a few options.

Some of you may be expecting a drink with an onion. Yeah, that's not going to happen... this time! While I like to think of myself as a gin drinker or a whisky drinker I'm sure my blue box would attest that rum is my most frequently recycled tipple. My girlfriend once had a forgiving theory that rum drinks call for a larger pour and rum drinks usually attract company so going through rum more quickly than other liquors is an illusion of sorts. So now you know a rum drink is coming. You also know what an enabler is.

I may have mentioned in past posts that Schumann's American Bar was to my mind a book to be taken seriously. I recall making this drink according to the recipe therein (I may have omitted the nutmeg) and being unimpressed. I suspected that fresh orange juice would have improved it. For some reason I didn't make the drink again. Even after reading Colonel Tiki's treatise about orange juice. Even after stocking the bar with more and better rums and syrups life went on. Life went on without this drink in my repertoire.

I let the days go by; I let the water hold me down; I found myself living in an apartment in a divvied up old house. I was cognisant of how thin the walls (and ceiling/floor) were. Sometimes late(ish) at night I'd want a drink and not want to disturb my neighbours (well, really just the one. If I disturbed the others I wasn't too concerned) with blending or shaking so I'd stir. Occasionally though a Sazerac or a Vieux Carre wouldn't do. Something more tropical would do!

I discovered some things. It was possible to build and stir (rather than shake as directed) this one drink and still have tasty results. It was also not necessary to always use the same varietal of juice nor the some type of rum. Each time I'd make this drink I would be eminently satisfied and wonder why I spent so much time combing through recipes (for which inevitably I was always one ingredient short) when I could be drinking one (or more!) of these! What was my problem exactly? I don't know, being a completist perhaps.

So, it was always tasty. It still is. Whichever varietal of orange I squeezed. Whichever dark rum I grabbed from my shelf. Whichever recipe/brand of grenadine I used it was always accommodating. This accommodating drink is an idea I've wanted to blog about. Maybe we'd call them "forgiving drinks"? I expected the Vieux Carre to be my first such post but it looks like that will have to wait for another day. Today we're talking about orange juice. Orange juice and rum. Forgiveness over ice you might say.

What be this drunkard's dream forgiving drink? Planter's Punch. You will encounter many recipes for such. The common thread seems to be rum, orange juice, and syurp. I usually use Schumann's recipe, as I alluded to, which gives a range for the rum measurement. However, if you underpour here and/or overpour there (with any of the ingredients) it will matter little. Delicious it still will be!

Planter's Punch
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.25 oz grenadine
2.75 oz orange juice
1.75-2 oz dark rum
orange
stemmed cherry
nutmeg

The directions are "Shake well over ice cubes in a shaker, strain into a large highball glass over ice cubes, add orange wedge amd cherry, sprinkle with nutmeg." So do that. Or use a DOF, or build and stir, or use mace instead of nutmeg, or omit the cherry. Or all or none of that. You won't hurt the punch's feelings.



Cheers!
Be well!

Perhaps next time I ought to present a steadfast unforgiving drink. We'll see!

Thanks you Mssrs. Clarke, Yarm, Hwalek.

ps The photo is of a different drink, but you get the idea.