Well, the weather might be wintry at this time of year but thankfully the world of tiki is always there to offer you an escape. Today we delved into the archives and came up with this recipe from Don the Beachcomber.
By Simon McGoram
Butter in a cocktail you say? Well yeah. You’ve likely had a whole raw egg in a flip, tried a ‘fat washed’ spirit before or even warmed your cockles with a Hot Buttered Rum. Butter in a cocktails? It ain’t no thing – though it can take some experimentation to perfect.
One of Bartender‘s favourite butter concoctions is Don the Beachcomber’s Pearl Diver’s Punch. It is basically a ‘Cold Buttered Rum’ and turns a winter favourite into a summer sipper. It uses a great tiki ingredient called ‘honey cream’ which combines honey with butter, rum, pimento dram and spices. As delicious as this batter like mixture may be there’s still a catch – butter plus cold equals lumps and not a particularly pleasing punch for punters.
It’s important when giving this recipe a crack that you dissolve your honey cream (kept at room temperature) with your spirits before adding juices and ice. Many recipes call for the entire mix to be blended – but a brisk shake will suffice. The key is to then fine strain your shaken/blended mix into your serving vessel (I prefer an opaque tiki mug to conceal any greasy film) and fill with crushed ice.
With buttery lumps removed this makes for a cracking festive tipple, rich with sweet Christmassy spices whilst till having a refreshing tang. The drink is admittedly a little fiddley and your barware will annoyingly be covered in a film of butter, but the resulting drink is good enough for you to pull this out as a seasonal special.
Pearl Diver’s Punch
45ml Virgin Islands rum (a lighter ‘Spanish-style’ rum is fine)
20ml Jamaican rum (something high ester)
20ml Demerara rum
5ml falernum (pimento dram is fine in a pinch)
30ml honey cream or ‘Pearl Diver’s mix’*
20ml lime juice,
30ml orange juice
2 dashes aromatic bitters
Mix honey cream and spirits in the base of a shaker then add juices. Shake and double strain into a tiki mug. Fill with crushed ice and garnish.
Honey Cream:
Gently melt 100 grams of unsalted butter and beat with 100ml honey, 30ml over proof rum, 30ml pimento dram and 30ml cinnamon & vanilla syrup. Keep at room temperature before use, refrigerate overnight.
Adapted from a Don the Beachcomber recipe circa 1937, sourced from Jeff Berry’s Sippin’ Safari