14 Feb The planter, the summer drink
The planter is one of the traditional cocktails in the West Indies, it is called West Indian punch or planter punch. The drink is appreciated especially during the summer and at events as a welcome cocktail. The planter is based on agricultural white rum, fruit juice (nectar) of guava, pineapple, mango, passion fruit, vanilla, cinnamon.
Depending on the variants, you can add orange juice, lemon juice, etc.
The term planter dating from the 16th century designates the settler who cultivates plantations in the West Indies, Reunion Island, Madagascar, etc.
At the time and for humor, those who did not drink ti-punch, drank a planter. It was rumored that at the time, the slaves drank rum (tafia, a very hard and highly alcoholic drink) in order to give them courage and strength to work in the plantations while the colonists (planters) preferred juices of refreshing fruits hence the term planter.
And looking in history, the planter punch was created in 1835, there have been 2 historical versions:
the 1st version is that the wife of a Jamaican planter invented this drink to refresh the workers in the
plantations of sugar cane. Then the recipe was taken over by Fred Myers’s to inaugurate its distillery (Myers rums) in 1879, in Jamaica
The 2nd version is that the name of the cocktail comes from that of the Planter’s hotel in Saint-Louis (Mississippi, United States). As the hotel underwent works, several owners succeeded one another, it is difficult to estimate the date of receipt of the planter (perhaps between 1817 and 1922).
In addition, The Planter’s Hotel employed the famous “Professor” Jerry Thomas as the chef of
bartender, highly respected in his profession. This one wrote the first cocktail book in 1862
“How To Mix Drinks or A Bon Vivant’s Companion”.
It is assumed that some of these famous recipes were made or prepared during his stay
at the Planter’s Hotel.