Party punch or "How to improve Trader Vic Punch"

So I'm having a party in two or three weeks, and I decided to do a scaled-down (1/24th size) version of Trader Vic Punch (Grog Log pg91, bottom). Personally, I like the way it came out (1 lemon, 1 orange, 2 tsp home made orgeat, 2 tsp sugar syrup, 1.5 oz of both bacardi white and meyers dark), but my dad informs me he feels its too tart. What would be a good way to sweeten it up without necessarily adding significantly more sugar? Or, does anyone have a slightly sweeter potent punch I can serve my guests?

1st thing I would do would be to use Cruzan white instead of Bacardi.
that alone will add a bit more body to the drink.

Bacardi white is like rubbing alcohol, not rum.

then after that, work on the juices.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Yea, to be completely honest I didn't feel like killing any more of my cruzan white than I have 2; the bacardi was free. What mixing of juices would you suggest?

I'm surprised it seems too tart. Although I've never made the drink, the ingredients don't scream out "tart" to me. But it may be simply a matter of personal preference. You might want to try something simple, such as cutting back a bit on the lemon juice, and adding more orange instead. Cut back a little on the white rum, and maybe add a little orange curacao. Tinker!

On 2009-06-25 14:06, arriano wrote:
I'm surprised it seems too tart. Although I've never made the drink, the ingredients don't scream out "tart" to me. But it may be simply a matter of personal preference. You might want to try something simple, such as cutting back a bit on the lemon juice, and adding more orange instead. Cut back a little on the white rum, and maybe add a little orange curacao. Tinker!

That pretty much sums it up. A bit more orange juice will definitely help.

There's a problem with trying to convert a punch recipe to single serving in that the punch recipe is usually stronger to account for being watered down by sitting in a giant bowl of ice. If you make a single serving version you might try adding in an ounce of water (mineral water or club soda is nice)to smooth out the concentration of the punch recipe.
Here is one of my favorite punches from my 1943 edition of "Tom and Jerry's Bartender's Guide: How to mix Drinks" Pre-Prohibition Recipes:

16oz. (1 pint) orgeat
4oz. (1/4 pint) maraschino
5.33oz (1/3 pint) of cognac
4oz. (1/4 pint) Jamaican rum
750ml bottle champagne
750ml bottle mineral water
3 oz. sugar
2 lemons & 2 oranges sliced thin

• a few slices of pineapple sliced very thin
  stir up with ladle add to punchbowl filled with shaved/crushed ice & serve

This one is really great.

Best
Mark

[i]
Here is one of my favorite punches from my 1943 edition of "Tom and Jerry's Bartender's Guide: How to mix Drinks" Pre-Prohibition Recipes:

16oz. (1 pint) orgeat
4oz. (1/4 pint) maraschino
5This one is really great.

Best
Mark

I assume this is maraschino liquor?

I was looking for something to use my champagne for