A Muddled Thought

I recently had the chance to experience Flor de Caña Gran Reserve 7 year-old white rum.

Since summers approaching pretty quickly. It got me thinking about punch recipes and Rum, a warm weather favorite. I also had recently received a few recipes from the people at Flor De Cana that Phil Ward(of Death & Co, Mayahuel) was kind enough to create for them to highlight their Reserve 7 year old aged white rum.

While Flor De Cana makes several different rums, the sweetness, toasted nut and coconut undertones make it very appealing for summer drinks.

I decided to start off with one of Phil’s Punch Recipes.

Phil Wards Punch No.4 (aka Summer Lovin)

Ingredients:
2 oz. Flor de Caña 4-year old
1 oz. simple syrup

2 strawberries

1 oz. lime juice

2 oz. pineapple juice

2 oz. Champagne

Instructions:
Muddle 1 oz. of simple syrup with strawberries
Add 2 oz. Flor de Caña 4-year old, the lime juice and pineapple juice one at a time and stir as added
Add ice and stir the punch until it is chilled

Punch No.4-Featuring Flor De Cana White Rum, Strawberries, Lime Juice, Pineapple and topped with Champagne.

While I originally was going to concentrate primarily on summer drinks, the flavors of the Flor De Cana, had me thinking of using it to replace the Rye Whiskey that’s usually in a Sazerac.
Flor De Cana Rum Sazerac-

2 oz Flor De Cana White Rum
Absinthe Rinsed Glass(Lucid was used)
2 Dashes Peychaud Bitters
1 /2 Oz Simple Syrup
Shake with Ice
Serve in Old Fashioned Glass with one large ice cube.

The Rum Sazerac using Flor De Cana White Rum, Peychaud Bitters, and Lucid Absinthe.

Inspired by Phil’s Punch Recipes(listed below) I decided to try something that could be drank in winter but also bring back memories of summer.
Flor De Cana Winter Recipe (Winter Punch or Winter in Paradise)

2 oz Flor De Cana White Rum Aged 7 Years
1/2 Oz Orange Juice
1/2 Pineapple
1/2 Simple Syrup
1 oz Licor 43

Rinse Glass with Lucid Absinthe

Serve in Red Wine Glass

Top with Cinnamon

Flor De Cana Winter Punch-A Shot from Above

Winter Punch-Featuring Flor De Cana Rum, A Lucid Absinthe Rinse, Pineapple Juice, Licor 43, and Orange Juice.

And for your mixing pleasure, the rest of Phil’s Flor De Cana Punch Recipes…

Flor de Caña Flip Flop Punch

Ingredients:
2 oz. Chamomile infused Flor De Caña 4-year old
4 sugar cubes
3 oz. club soda
1 oz. lemon juice
1.5 oz. grapefruit juice

Method:
1. Dissolve 4 sugar cubes in 1 oz. of club soda (this generally involves muddling to help process)
2. After sugar cubes are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added
3. Add ice once all of the ingredients have been added and stirred
4. Stir the punch until it is chilled

Strain punch into a glass or punch bowl, depending on the size of the portion, top with 2oz. club soda and garnish with grapefruit slices

*Chamomile Infused Flor de Caña is made by adding 4 bar spoons of chamomile tea to one bottle of rum. Let the concoction sit for an hour and forty five minutes and then strain out the tea. Save the bottle for storage.

Goodnight Moon Punch

Ingredients:
2 oz. Flor De Caña 7-year Grand Reserve
4 sugar cubes
3 oz. club soda
2 whole cloves
1 pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
1 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. Fuji apple juice
2 dashes of Peychaud bitters

Method:
1. Dissolve the sugar cubes in 1 oz. of club soda (this generally involves muddling to help process)
2. Muddle the cloves with the sugar cubes
3. After the sugar cubes and cloves are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added
4. Add ice once all of the ingredients have been added and stirred
5. Stir the punch until it is chilled

Strain the punch into a glass or punch bowl, depending on the size of the portion, top with 2oz. club soda and garnish with apple slices and cinnamon sticks

Cardamom and Pop Punch

Ingredients:
2 oz. Flor De Caña 7-year Grand Reserve
4 sugar cubes
3 green cardamom pods (can be found at any spice shop)
3oz. club soda
1oz. lime juice
1 oz. grapefruit juice
1 dash of Regan’s Orange bitters

Method:
1. Dissolve the sugar cubes in 1 oz. of soda water (this generally involves muddling to help process)
2. Muddle the cardamom pods with the sugar cubes
3. After the sugar cubes and cloves are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added
4. Add ice once all of the ingredients have been added and stirred
5. Stir the punch until it is chilled

Strain the punch into a glass or punch bowl, depending on the size of the portion, top with 2oz. club soda and garnish with lime wheels

Green Acres Punch

Ingredients:
2 oz. Flor de Caña 4-year old
1oz. Flor de Caña 18-year old
0.75 oz. rich demerara simple syrup
1 oz. lime juice
6 oz. HOT STRONG Green Tea
1 mint sprig

Method:
1. All of the ingredients should be combined and left in a container over night
2. Strain the next day
3. Refrigerate and drink at leisure

Pour the punch into a glass and garnish with a lime wheel and mint sprig

*Demerara syrup can be made in a pot over low heat on stove top. 2 parts demerara sugar to 1 part water. Heat and stir until dissolved.

Reverse Milk Punch

Ingredients:
4 oz. Flor de Caña 7-year Grand Reserve
8 sugar cubes
3 oz. club soda
2 oz. lemon juice
2 tsp peach brandy
2 tsp cinnamon bark syrup
2 oz. Cognac

Method:
1. Dissolve the sugar cubes in 1 oz. of club soda (this generally involves muddling to help process)
2. After the sugar cubes are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added
3. Add ice once all of the ingredients have been added and stirred
4. Stir the punch until it is chilled

Strain the punch into a glass or punch bowl, depending on the size of the portion and top with 2 oz. club soda

So as one of many fans of the Conference, a Death and Company cocktail, invented by Brian Miller and inspired by the Old Fashioned. In recent weeks I’ve been experimenting with my take on the drink.

Here’s the original recipe from Death and Company.

The Conference:

1/4 oz Demerara Sugar Syrup
1/2 oz Rittenhouse Bonded Rye (100 Proof)
1/2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1/2 oz Cognac
1/2 oz Calvados
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
1 Dash Xocolatl Mole Bitters

My Take:

2 oz Gosling Black Seal

.5 Oz Tequila

.5 oz Velvet Falernum

2 Dashes Chocolate Extract

Or Dash Bittermans Xocolatl Mole Bitters

Shake with ice

Serve in old fashioned with one large cube

While talking to Phil Ward of Mayahuel and Death and Co., I decided to get his take on the recipe.

After trying it my way there were several other routes he took.

In the first go around, he decided to add some whiskey barrel bitters to my recipe, which brought some additional balance to the drink. At this point I still favored my version better.

Phil insisted on giving it another try, though this time changing up the ingredients a bit. As Phil is a big fan of Mescal, he decided to replace the tequila with Mescal.

This is something that i had previously tried this recipe at home using Mescal as well it didn’t seem to work as I had hoped it had. Though I was utilizing a bottle of Scorpion Mescal, which should probably be reserved for blender drinks and shots.

As a lover of Mescal, Phil decided to tweak the concept of the drink and mix up a few different ingredients for his final take on it.

Phil Ward’s Final Take-

All ingredients are equal parts. In other words ¾ of an Ounce

Antica

Los Danzante Mescal

Goslings Black Seal Rum

Marie Brizard White Cacao

Lime

Phi's Version of The Last Request

While this drink probably won’t make it to the Cocktail Menu at Mayahuel anytime soon, I figured I’d still give it an appropriate name. I’m still hopefully that Phil will at least let me pick the name if it does somehow become a featured choice. If that does happen, keeping with it’s Spanish influences, I’d suggest petición pasada which translates to “last request”.