Planter's Punch in an old-fashioned glass with an orange twist

IBA

Planter’s Punch – IBA

Name: Planter’s Punch – IBA
Prep time: 2 min
Total time: 2 min
Yield: 1 serving
Ingredients: White rum (Jamaican) — 45 ml (1 1/2 oz); Lime juice — 15 ml (1/2 oz); Sugar cane juice — 30 ml (1 oz)

Build ∙ 2 min ∙ 18.5% ABV ∙

The IBA Planter's Punch is a simple built rum drink of Jamaican white rum, lime juice, and sugar cane juice, poured into a small tumbler and diluted to taste. Bright and tangy up front, the tartness softens into a mellow, faintly grassy sweetness, with a clean, warming finish from the rum backbone.

Ingredients

Servings

Garnish

Orange twist

Instructions for 1 serving

Pre-chill a glass
Pour all ingredients: White rum 45 mlLime juice 15 mlSugar cane juice 30 ml directly into a small tumbler or a typical terracotta glass
Garnish with an orange twist
Note: Dilute to taste with water, ice or fresh juices
Note: Can be scaled up and served from a punch bowl or a large pitcher

Tips

Pre-chill the glass before building — the drink is short and undiluted as poured, so it warms quickly.
Scaling up for a crowd works well from a punch bowl or pitcher; batch the rum, lime, and sugar cane juice in the same proportions before adding ice.

History

The version labeled "Planter's Punch – IBA" is the recipe currently codified by the International Bartenders Association, built simply from Jamaican rum, lime juice, and sugar cane juice. The IBA has carried a Planter's Punch on its official list since 1961, but for decades that listing called for a more elaborate mix of citrus juices, bitters, and other additions; in 2020 the organization revised the specification back toward the drink's older, simpler proportions of rum, sugar, and lime.

That simpler formula echoes Planter's Punch, whose documented origin traces to Jamaica, with the earliest known printed recipe appearing as a rhyming formula in the London magazine Fun in September 1878, giving proportions of lemon juice, sugar, rum, and water. Later American newspaper versions in the early 1900s adapted the rhyme with lime in place of lemon and added ratios of "sour," "sweet," "strong," and "weak." The IBA's current spec keeps this lean, citrus-forward shape rather than the punchier, multi-juice interpretations that had circulated on its list in earlier decades.