Planter's Rum Punch with Spiced Rum Sous Vide

Whether you call it Barbados water, Rumscullion, Devil’s Death, Kill-Devil, Nelson’s Blood, Rumbustion, Tafia or Screech - Rum’s history is as varied as its many monikers.

The culinary eggheads point to the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 17th century as ground zero for the initial distillation of rum as we know it today. There are culinary clues that point to Brazil even earlier not to mention an interesting documented find of tinned rum on a Swedish warship - but as usual, I digress!

	Rum is defined as a distilled spirit that is produced from sugar cane and depending on which variety is in production it can also use cane juice and sugar cane molasses, or actually any other part of the sugar cane plant. That all being said most rum is distilled from sugar cane molasses, a byproduct of refined sugar production - great way to use up your leftovers!
It is said that at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, there were about 150 distilleries making rum from Caribbean molasses in the New England colonies. Although rum was and is enjoyed solo its generally preferred mixed and is the key ingredient to scores of classic cocktails.

Planter's Punch is one of the more famous rum based drinks and is less a specific drink than it is a class of drinks, I can’t even begin to tell you how many versions I came across during my research. I decided to develop a spiced rum for our version of Planters Punch using the sous vide method as we have done numerous times before infusing liquors, syrups etc. Speaking of infused syrups rather than using a basic simple syrup to season the punch as you would normally find I took the liberty of using our Mint Simple Syrup Sous Vide from the Mint Julep recipe a few months back. It’s the perfect way to round out the drink as well as adding that extra layer of flavor to an already complex cocktail.

In closing I feel I must apologize to the long term readers as I feel like a broken record when it comes to this blog simply ‘cause sous vide is so freaking easy!!! This spiced rum for example just add everything to the bag, vacuum pack that bad boy and cook sous vide - dunzo!

Spiced Rum

Ingredients:

• 1 750ml Rum, white
• 1 Vanilla bean, split
• 3 large slices Orange peel, white pith removed
• 1 large Cinnamon stick
• 5 Allspice berries
• 4 Cloves
• 6 Black peppercorns, whole
• 3 Star Anise, whole
• 1 whole Nutmeg, whole, cracked
• 2 thick slices Ginger, fresh, about the size of a quarter

spiced rum ingredients

Planter's Punch with Spiced Rum
Ingredients:

• 2 ounces Spiced Rum SV, see recipe

• 1 ounce Grapefruit Juice, fresh
• 1/2 ounce Lime Juice, fresh
• 1 ounce Cointreau
• 1 tablespoon Mint infused Simple Syrup Sous Vide, see recipe, or more to taste
• 1 dash bitters, optional
• mints sprigs, fresh, for garnish

rum punch ingredients

rum and spices in vacuum bag

sieve spiced rum

Spiced Rum
Directions:

1. Preheat the SV1 to 135ºF/57ºC

2. Using the VacMaster Bag Filler and using appropriate sized VacMaster bag(s) add all of the ingredients.

3. Using a VacMaster Chamber machine vacuum seal the bag and carefully place in the water bath of the SV1.

4. Cook the Spiced Rum for 6 hours and up to 8 hours.

5. Careful remove the bag from the SV1 and immediately chill in an ice bath.

6. Strain out the spices from the chilled liquor through a fine mesh sieve into a resealable bottle for storage and reserve.

7. Use as needed

Planter's Punch with Spiced Rum
Directions:

1. Using the VacMaster Bag Filler and a suitable sized VacMaster chamber pouch or VacMaster zippered pouch place all of the ingredients and an optional mint sprig.

2. Using a VacMaster chamber machine carefully vacuum pack the cocktail.

3. Store the cocktail refrigerated

4. When ready to drink, simply open the bag and pour the Planter’s Punch into a chilled collins glass over ice and garnish with the optional mint sprig.

Alternatively:

1. In a large cocktail shaker place the cracked ice, along with all of the ingredients and an optional fresh mint sprig.

2. Shake well then strain the into a chilled Collins glass with fresh ice.

3. Garnish with another optional fresh mint sprig if using.

4. Enjoy

Planter's Punch