Post #665655 by arriano on Thu, Jan 31, 2013 10:31 AM

I started my project with the cocktail that has intrigued me the most. The Shelter Island’s Whaler’s Punch is a cocktail that appears on older Bali Hai menus, but is no longer served. And that intrigues me because it means I can resurrect a lost cocktail. But in doing so there had to be some guess work. The menus list the ingredients as Jamaican rum, cognac, cherry brandy and California fruits. California fruits? OK, one is bound to be orange juice. But since the description is “fruits” I presume there has to be at least one more. Glancing through the ingredients of all the cocktails on the menus that include this cocktail, four juices are listed in total: orange, lime, cherry and pineapple. Pineapple would never be considered a “California” fruit. Oranges, cherries and limes are all grown in California, but since cherry brandy is one of the ingredients, would you also include cherry juice? Seems unnecessary. Therefore, I think there were probably two juices and they were orange and lime.

With that out of the way, here’s the cocktail I came up with:

SHELTER ISLAND'S WHALER'S PUNCH
1 oz Jamaican Dark Rum
½ oz Cognac
½ oz Cherry Brandy
2 oz Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup

Shake ingredients with crushed ice and pour into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry speared to an orange slice.

I did not have Cognac, so I used regular brandy. I used Appleton for the rum. I thought this was a really good, tasty drink. Very well balanced. So far so good.

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2013-06-03 11:08 ]