This drink was inspired by the hot spiced ponche served in Mexico around Christmas. Many of the spices and flavors are similar to those used in classic mid-century exotic cocktails. I prefer a cold drink no matter the weather- the rum usually warms me up just fine. This can be served individually or multiplied into a punch (combine all ingredients and chill for a few hours before serving in a punch bowl over ice)
1 oz Lime juice
1 oz Minneola juice (sub tangerine or in season oranges)
1 oz Pineapple juice
.5 oz Falernum
.5 oz Spiced Piloncillo Syrup*
1 oz Tejocote & guava puree**
1 oz White Rum (suggest Myers’s Platinum)
1 oz Cachaca
.5 oz Licor 43
Combine all ingredients into an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake like hell. Strain into an ice filled collins glass and garnish with a stick of Mexican cinnamon and a stick of sugar cane. (you can adjust lime juice and Piloncillo syrup to taste)
*Piloncillo Syrup:
Piloncillo is a dark brown sugar sold in hard cones at Mexican Supermarkets.
To make the syrup, combine in a saucepan:
3 cones piloncillo
3 cups water
3 mexican cinnamon sticks
10 cloves.
simmer slowly and stir until the cones are dissolved completely. Let cool, strain and bottle.
**Tejocote and guava puree:
Tejocotes are the fruit of the Hawthorn tree, and are like a small crab
apple. Very hard to find fresh, but look for tejocotes packed in syrup in
mexican markets. Put 1 pound pitted tejocotes and and 1/2 pound seeded
guavas into a blender and puree, adding water and a little syrup from the
tejocote jar to make sure the puree is liquid.