wonk holiday punch (2025)

1/2 oz Planteray Mister Fogg Sail No. 1 Rum
1/2 oz Planteray Xaymaca Rum
1 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup 2:1 (1:1)
3/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Two Wednesdays ago, I was listening to a Bartender at Large podcast where Pierre Ferrand's Alexandre Gabriel was the guest, and I later checked out Alexandre's Instagram. One of the posts was a joint one from Matt Pietrek from December 2025 where Matt posted his Wonk Holiday Punch. Matt was inspired by a conversation with bartender Jason Alexander, and his recipe utilized three of Alexandre's products. I had not seen orange liqueur as a base since the Grand Marnier event at Drink at 2009 where John Gertsen led the pack with 2 1/4 oz with the Mission of Burma as an inverted Pegu Club and Scott Holliday's Alicante at 1 1/2 oz (our cocktail, the Lioness (of Brittany), was a meager 3/4 oz by comparison). Once prepared, the Wonk Holiday Punch named after Matt's CocktailWonk and RumWonk accounts began with orange, caramel, and cinnamon aromas. Next, a medley of grapefruit, lime, and orange notes on the sip sailed into rum, orange, and cinnamon flavors on the swallow. The roundness of Pierre Ferrand's orange liqueur akin to that of Grand Marnier allowed for this large amount of curaçao to prosper as half of the alcohol volume.