Surrender to The Passion-Filled Rum Punch at Haiti’s Best Western Premier

Hey, you have to try this!

As someone who writes about, opines over, and occasionally even judges rums, rhums, and spirits, I’m often posed this question at bars across the Caribbean. There’s seemingly always something new to try, and I’m generally always ready to play guinea pig.

Always, that is, except for the night last February when I stumbled into The Best Western Premier in Pétion-Ville, the tony uptown suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

It wasn’t all that late and I wasn’t sick or anything, but more than a few rounds at the four previous stops that evening had me anxious for a break. Or better yet, a bed!

That’s when a handsome young gap-toothed bartender plopped the color-rich cocktail above before me. I waved it off initially, but he insisted with a sly grin, saying:

This is my creation. You won’t forget it.

It only took one sip to prove the young man right. Overall, I found his punch to be a bit sweeter than I’d like, though this was in line with most every rum punch I’d ever had in Haiti. Mixed drinks tend to fall more on the sweeter side there, which is why I usually prefer this or this.

Still, it was plenty potent; easily the strongest drink I’d had all day. The reason, I soon learned, was that it featured nearly every product sold in the Rhum Barbancourt portfolio.

Barbancourt White, Barbancourt 3 Stars, and Pango – a flavored rum absolutely bursting with natural mango and pineapple flavors – where all in there, along with a healthy dose of lime, grenadine syrup, and passion fruit juice.

It was the passion fruit that really got me. Nowhere else have I ever enjoyed passion fruit juice as amazingly tasty as in Haiti. I don’t know what it is, but I probably drink my weight in it every time I’m down there.

In this special rum punch, it shone through much of the overly-sweet grenadine such to the point that I forgot my bed and ordered another.

To mix one up yourself, try combining one ounce each of the 3-Star, Pango, and Barbancourt White with a quarter ounce of fresh lime juice, two ounces of passion fruit juice, and a splash of grenadine in your shaker with ice. Shake heartily and serve over ice.

Santé!