Planter's Punch
Serves 1 · 5 minutes · Small tumbler or terracotta glass
Last updated 24 October 2026
The current IBA Planter's Punch is a short, simple drink of Jamaican rum, fresh lime and sugar cane juice — not the long, multi-fruit punch the name often suggests. This page follows the IBA specification and explains the difference rather than blending the two.
Ingredients
- — 45ml Jamaican rum (40% ABV assumed)
- — 15ml fresh lime juice
- — 30ml sugar cane juice
- — Ice, water or fresh juice to dilute, to taste
- — Orange zest, to garnish
Method
- Measure the rum, lime juice and sugar cane juice directly into the serving glass.
- Stir to combine, then add ice or a little cold water to your taste. The IBA permits dilution with water, ice or fresh juices without a fixed quantity.
- Express the orange zest over the drink, add it as garnish and serve.
Why it works
With only three measured ingredients, each one is exposed: rum supplies the base character, lime the acidity and cane juice a grassy sweetness distinct from plain syrup. The simplicity is the point of the current IBA formula; adding fruit juices makes a different, older style of punch.
The classic vs the spiced version
The IBA specifies 45ml Jamaican rum, 15ml lime juice and 30ml sugar cane juice, diluted to taste. We keep those measures exactly. Replace the 45ml Jamaican rum with 45ml Dilay only for a clearly labelled spiced adaptation: cardamom and ginger change the base character of a drink whose classic identity is Jamaican rum.
Tips for getting it right
- — The IBA ingredient is sugar cane juice, not sugar syrup. Bottled sugar cane juice is sold in some Caribbean and Asian food shops; do not substitute 30ml of rich syrup and call it the same specification.
- — Dilution is deliberately to taste in the cited recipe. Start with ice alone and add water in small amounts; dilution changes strength per sip but does not remove alcohol.
- — Fruity Planter's Punch recipes with pineapple, orange and grenadine are older or different formulas. They are valid drinks, but not this IBA specification.
- — Build the drink in the glass you will serve it in. A small tumbler keeps the measured serving from looking lost.
Related serves
For a measured shared jug, use the existing Rum Punch recipe
For a short rum-and-lime classic, make a Daiquiri
Frequently asked questions
Is Planter's Punch a fruity punch?
The current IBA specification is not: it is rum, lime and sugar cane juice diluted to taste. Older and bar-specific recipes with several fruit juices exist, but they are different formulas.
Can I use sugar syrup instead of sugar cane juice?
Not as the same specification. Cane juice has a distinct fresh, grassy character. If you cannot find it, treat a syrup version as your own adaptation rather than the IBA recipe.
How many units are in a Planter's Punch?
At the assumed 40% strength, the 45ml rum measure contains 1.8 UK units. Ice and water dilute the drink but do not reduce that figure.
Can I use spiced rum?
Yes as a labelled adaptation. Substitute the same 45ml measure; the lime and cane juice stay unchanged.
Try Dilay 1949 Panjabi Spiced Rum in this recipe.
BUY DILAY 1949 PANJABI SPICED RUMRecipe references
Our method and spiced adaptations are described separately from the referenced classic specifications.
Approx. 1.8 UK units per serving from the measured alcoholic ingredients. 1.8 UK units per serving at the assumed 40% rum strength. Dilution with water, ice or juice does not remove that alcohol. Check the actual bottle label.
Please drink responsibly. 18+. Visit drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.