Most tiki drinks are made with rum, but whiskey, gin…
Spiced St. Germain Punch
Our bar is stocked with a very wide variety of spirits and liqueurs. Tiki drinks are often complicated and when you start making them on a regular basis, you will find that you are compelled to fill your bar with seemingly oddball ingredients. We don’t consider Velvet Falernum to be an oddity, for instance, but plenty of people visit us who have no idea what it is. One liqueur that everyone recognizes these days is St. Germain, the elderflower liquor that comes in a stunningly beautiful bottle. We don’t use it much in our usual tiki drinks, but we get lots of requests for drinks using it once people see that bottle.
This Spiced St. Germain Punch is an easy and and delicious cocktail that lets that elderflower liquor be the star. They’re a twist on a mojito, but made without the soda water. They use spiced rum as a base, which is nice because it makes them very easy to mix up if you’re hosting a party and eliminates the need for additional sweetener, since most spiced rums – as well as the St. Germain itself – have a nice sweetness to them. Muddle lime, mint and a pinch of sugar in the glass of your choice, then top with St. Germain and spiced rum. You’ll get a nice blend of refreshing mint, zesty lime, sweet elderflowers and spice. It is super approachable – and by that we mean that the punch is easy to drink and is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit when you serve it.
We really liked Bacardi Oakheart in this punch. It is a mellow, fairly sweet spiced rum that has a nice combination of oak and vanilla to it. In this recipe, it compliments the St. Germain without overwhelming it. Other spiced rums would work just as well, though they would add their own layers of flavor to the punch. It’s not your traditional tiki drink by any means, but we don’t see too many people turning these down.
Spiced St-Germain Punch
2 lime wedges
4 mint leaves
1 tsp sugar
2 oz spiced rum (rec. Bacardi Oakheart)
1 oz St. Germain
In a glass, muddle lime, mint and sugar. Top with spiced rum, St Germain and ice and stir to combine.
Serves 1.