Tapa Punch

Photographed in an

How to make:

1. Select and pre-chill a Tiki mug or collins glass.
2. Prepare garnish of icing sugar dusted mint sprigs bouquet, grated nutmeg and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry skewered with a paper parasol.
3. POUR all ingredients into a glass or mug.
4. Two-thirds fill glass with crushed ice and SWIZZLE.
5. Add more crushed ice to fill glass and SWIZZLE some more.
6. Garnish with icing sugar dusted mint sprigs bouquet, grated nutmeg and cherry skewered with a paper parasol.
7. Serve with a straw.

Review:

A peachy rum sour served swizzle-style. Citrus adds balance and freshness to this blend of rums with their fruity funk enhanced by a splash of peach liqueur.

History:

'Tapa' is a patterned bark cloth made by South Pacific islanders which is sometimes used to decorate Tiki bar walls and ceilings. The Tapa Tower, built in 1958 to house the growing numbers of tourists visiting the Hawaiian Village in Hawaii was named after this bark cloth. The Tapa Punch followed soon after the tower was completed (circa 1959) and was created by Harry K. Yee, the Hawaiian Village's head bartender.

Previously lost, the recipe to this cocktail was unearthed in 2008 by Jeff Isbister, beverage director of the Royal Kona Resort in old papers found during a bar renovation. The full story and that recipe (see below) were recorded by Jeff Berry in his 2017 Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari.

The Tapa Punch is particularly noteworthy as Yee claimed it was the first cocktail garnished with a paper parasol, so creating the first of what became known as "umbrella drinks".

TAPA PUNCH
3 ounces dark Jamaican rum
1 ounce white Puerto Rican rum
½ ounce peach-flavored brandy
3 ounces sweet & sour mix
¼ ounce fresh lime juice
Fill a 14-ounce Tiki mug with crushed ice, then add ingredients and stir to chill. Garnish with pineapple wedge, cocktail cherry, vanda orchid, and paper parasol.

Jeff Berry, Beachbum Berry's Sippin' Safari - 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition, 2017

Our recipe is an adaptation of one developed, and kindly sent, by Brendan Kavanah, a fellow Discerning Drinker in January 2024.

TAPA PUNCH
1 Lime wedge (1/6 of a lime)
3/4 oz Lime juice
3/4 oz Lemon juice
1 1/2 oz 1:1 Simple syrup
3 oz Blended dark rum (1 1/2 oz Plantation Dark, 3/4 oz Myers Dark Jamaican, 3/4 oz Hamilton 86)
1 oz Unaged overproof Jamaican rum
1/2 oz Peach liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
5 drops 20% Saline
Glass: 16 oz Collins glass/Tiki mug
Garnish: Mint sprig, Nutmeg dusting, Yellow parasol with skewered Maraschino cherry
Method: Add lime wedge to frozen Collins glass and muddle thoroughly. Add all other ingredients to glass and fill most of the way with crushed ice. Swizzle ingredients until chilled, top with more crushed ice, add straw, and garnish.

Brendan Kavana, January 2024

More cocktails by Harry K. Yee

Nutrition:

One serving of Tapa Punch contains 208 calories.

Alcohol content:

• 1.7 standard drinks
• 22.52% alc./vol. (45.04° proof)
• 23.8 grams of pure alcohol