Rum

Tahitian Rum Punch

Name: Tahitian Rum Punch
Yield: 1 servings

Glass: Collins

Donn Beach-era multi-citrus punch with white wine, banana liqueur, and a vanilla whisper.

rum tiki punch jamaican shaken banana pineapple pre-tiki

Ingredients

fresh lime juice (0.5 oz)
fresh grapefruit juice (1 oz)
fresh orange juice (1 oz)
fresh pineapple juice (1 oz)
brown sugar (1 tsp)
vanilla extract (2 drops)
dry white wine (1 oz)
crème de banana (1 tsp)
light Puerto Rican rum (1.5 oz)
gold Jamaican rum (1 oz)
ice cubes (1 cup)
crushed ice (1 cup)
mint sprig (1)

Despite the Tahitian name, this drink is a West Indian rum punch in form, multi-citrus, Caribbean rum, and a sweetener, dressed up under a Polynesian-Pop label.¹ It is a recurring Donn Beach pattern of overlaying Caribbean rum onto exotic non-Caribbean stories.² Trader Vic published a similarly named drink in 1947, and attribution between the two camps is not clean.³

Brand recommendations. Best: Appleton Estate 12 or Worthy Park Single Estate Reserve for the gold Jamaican, Probitas or Plantation 3 Stars for the light Puerto Rican, Giffard Banane du Brésil for the crème de banane, a dry Muscadet or Sancerre for the white wine, pure Madagascar vanilla extract. Economical: Appleton Estate Signature or Coruba for the Jamaican, Bacardi Superior or Don Q Cristal for the Puerto Rican, Marie Brizard Crème de Banane or Bols, an inexpensive Pinot Grigio.

Instructions

In a shaker combine fresh lime juice, fresh grapefruit juice, fresh orange juice, fresh pineapple juice, brown sugar, vanilla extract, dry white wine, crème de banana, light Puerto Rican rum, and gold Jamaican rum with ice cubes.
Shake well until chilled.
Strain into a tall pilsner glass filled with crushed ice.
Garnish with a mint sprig.

Sources

Berry, Intoxica! (2002) and Beachbum Berry Remixed (2010), Tahitian Rum Punch entry, Berry's reconstruction of the Donn Beach version with the West-Indian-punch-under-Polynesian-Pop-label framing. ↩
Curtis, And a Bottle of Rum (2006), places Donn's exotic-elsewhere naming pattern in the broader American-tropical / Caribbean-rum context. ↩
Atomic Grog (Hurricane Hayward), "Mai-Kai Cocktail Review: Tasty Tahitian Breeze." https://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/05/19/mai-kai-cocktail-review-tasty-tahitian-breeze-is-packed-with-tropical-flavors-history/ (accessed 2026-05-03), discusses the Donn / Vic dual-attribution issue and cross-references the Mai-Kai's adapted Tahitian-name pours. ↩