potaro punch

1 3/4 oz Demerara Rum (Lemon Hart 80)
1/2 oz Becherovka Liqueur
1/2 oz Lapsang Souchong Tea Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
On Saturday night after getting in from watching the Honk Festival of activist street bands, it was time to make Misty Kalkofen's Portaro Punch. Earlier in the day, I bought some Lapsang souchong tea to make this recipe; Lapsang is a tea flavored through a smoke-drying over pinewood fires process. The punch required a tea syrup which I made through 2 volumes of hot tea to one volume of sugar; for people with sweeter palates might want to go with a more standard equal volume syrup instead of the drier one we opted for. Another component of the punch was a winter-spiced Czech bitter liqueur called Becherovka which is flavored with clove, anise, cinnamon, and other botanicals. The drink's backbone consisted of demerara rum, and thus, the drink was named after a region of Guyana near where these rums are produced. The end result was pleasantly sweet and spicy. The dominant smoky and clove notes made Andrea exclaim, "This cocktail tastes like a goth club -- thanks Misty!"