Tiki is all the rage these days, but it can be overwhelming figuring out how to get started with that laundry list of ingredients to create that potent complex and fruit-forward potion. So many flavors, and most people probably don’t want to splurge on 15 different bottles just to make a single drink

So here’s my attempt to simplify that with an ingredient arsenal to help you create a plethora of awesome tiki drinks, taking the Planter’s Punch adage to a literal level: 1 of sour, 2 of sweet, 3 of strong, 4 of weak. Choose one item from each bullet, and grow your collection by increasing the variety! I also HIGHLY recommend the Smuggler’s Cove book and Total Tiki App (iPhone/iPad) to help you along your tiki journey.

10-item Planter’s Punch Starter Kit

1 of sour:

• limes

2 of sweet:

• cane sugar syrup (1:1 or 2:1 sugar/water)
• other syrup (orgeat/almond, falernum – lime zest & spices, vanilla, cinnamon, cream of coconut, apricot, passionfruit)

3 of strong:

• silver light-bodied rum (Flor de Cana 4, Plantation 3 Star, Cana Brava)
• heavier-bodied golden rum (El Dorado 5/8/12, Mount Gay Eclipse, Plantation 5 year/original dark)
• gold or dark Jamaican rum (Coruba, Myers, Smith and Cross, Appleton)

4 of weak:

• ice (lots of it!)
• fresh mint
• fresh sweeter citrus juice (grapefruit, orange)
• fresh pineapple

[Bonus] Touch of spice to make it nice:

• Angostura bitters
• absinthe/anise spirit
• pimento allspice liqueur