pondo punch

3 oz Puerto Rican Rum (Caliche)
1/2 oz Curaçao (Van der Hum)
1/4 oz Grenadine
1 oz Orange Juice (Cara Cara)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a 14 oz glass with 3 oz soda water, and fill with crushed ice. Garnish with sliced fruits in season (orange slice).
After my New Year's Eve shift at Loyal Nine, I wanted to relax with something tropical so I reached for Trader Vic's Book of Food & Drink (1981 edition of the 1946 original). There, I spotted the Pondo Punch that Vic described as, "We used to drink these on the Borneo Coast. Pondo, our Filipino boy, concocted this drink. It's a nice drink before sundown, and after four of them, keep away from open flames." The recipe is denoted with a symbol listing it as a Trader Vic original, but he attributed the history to someone else in the recipe description. The text did not allude to what stupidity occurred after drinking 4 of these, but one was mighty potent besides the 14 ounces of booze that would be in the quartet. Once prepared, the punch shared an orange aroma that led into a carbonated orange and lemon sip and a rum-driven swallow. Overall, the drink was a pleasant Rum Collins, and perhaps a more flavorful rum as well as upping the curaçao, grenadine, and tart citrus might help to give the drink a bit more character.