st. charles ave punch

3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 tsp Sugar, White
1 oz Rum (Tommy Bahama Gold)
1 1/2 oz Tawny Port (Sandeman)
Cointreau for float (1/4 oz)

Stir or shake lemon, port, and sugar to dissolve the sugar. Add rum and ice, shake, and strain into a cocktail glass. Float Cointreau on top and garnish with lemon.

After dinner last night, I searched through a MacGourmet drink recipe collection I was given for a rum drink, for I wanted to try one of the Tommy Bahama rum samples I was sent. A recipe that stood out was the St. Charles Ave Punch created by Chris Patino of Pernod-Ricard for the opening of the Museum of the American Cocktail in 2008. Patino's drink is a rum variation on the Cognac-based St. Charles Punch found in Stanley Arthur Clisby's 1937 book Famous New Orleans' Drinks & How to Mix'Em.

St. Charles Punch
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 Lemon, Juiced
• 1 Jigger Port Wine (1 1/2 oz)
• 1 Pony Cognac (1 oz)
• 1/3 tsp Curacao
Dissolve sugar in water. Add rest of ingredients and crushed ice. Jiggle with barspoon to mix. Pour into a highball glass, and garnish with fruit. Serve with straw.

While the original was named after the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans where it was created, Patino's drink refers to the mansion-rich stretch in New Orleans' Garden District (which I got to see walking back from the Cure bar during Tales of the Cocktail -- yes, a long walk). In the drink that we made, the Cointreau did indeed float to some extent. I was surprised that any flavor remained at the top of the drink given how dense Cointreau is. The Cointreau patches were very distinct and were cleansing of the rum and port flavors. The Cointreau also complemented the punch's lemon flavors quite well. Otherwise, the drink was a rather pleasant rum and port sour which served to get us through the last third of Marcel Proust's Time Regained.